The Aftermath: Redux
by tamilnadu09
Summary: Mystic Falls gets even more dangerous as it faces a new threat: the return of Katherine, the turning of John Gilbert, and the werewolves all play a part in this potential storyline for Season 2!
1. Changes

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Vampire Diaries or any of its characters.

**Author's Note: **Hey everyone! I'm back (as promised) with another TVD fic! Thank you SO MUCH to the overwhelming response to my last fic "_Founder's Day: The Aftermath_." Like I told many of you, I decided not to do a sequel to that because the ending was just too perfect...BUT I have decided to write another continuation of Founder's Day :)

For those of you who haven't read my last fic, don't worry, this isn't a sequel of any sort. Just know that it will eventually be Damon/Elena but I like to include the stories of other characters as well, so that it feels like an actual episode of the show..enjoy ;)

* * *

_Last few minutes of Founder's Day_

"Part of why I hate the vampires so much is because of what she became. How it ruined her…I never would have sent her to Damon had I known she wanted to turn…"

_Was he looking for sympathy? _Katherine barely restrained from rolling her eyes as she tried to keep up the appearance of Elena's downcast disappointment on her face.

"It's my fault," John rambled on, unaware of his listening partner's growing disinterest. "I'm telling you this because…maybe I hoped you'd understand."

_Right. _

Katherine simpered, doing her best to look heartfelt. "Thank you," she said softly, mimicking Elena's innocent gestures.

"Can I help?" John asked, indicating the knives that Katherine was conveniently putting away.

_Score. _Katherine fought a grin. "Sure," she agreed, glancing down at the ring on John's finger. _Sure. _

It all happened very quickly.

He screamed, his fingers lying on the countertop, separated from the rest of his hand. Katherine shoved him backwards, her eyes glittering with menace.

He stared at her in disbelief, "Katherine?"

_Ah, he was a smart one. _

"Hello John," Katherine said gleefully, vamping out. "Goodbye John," she added, swiftly stabbing him in the chest with a knife.

He screamed again, slumping onto the floor.

Katherine stared down at him in disdain, as the blood gushed out of his wounds. His mouth moved, trying to tell her something. Katherine smiled, and she crouched down next to him. She delicately dipped her finger into the pool of blood and tasted it.

"Kath—" he choked, blood spewing out his mouth.

"Dear John," Katherine sighed. She reached up and gathered his severed fingers into her hand. She stared at the ring for a moment, when suddenly she turned her ear to the door.

Elena.

Katherine hesitated for half a second, trying to decide what to do. It was very tempting to leave John's dying corpse here for Elena to find…

"_Yeah, someone definitely took my stuff…I'm just going to check on Jeremy before going to the hospital. Can you meet me there?" _

Katherine paused, her head cocked.

Jeremy was in the house? Odd, she hadn't heard a third heartbeat…She strained her ears, listening. Nope, just the strongly beating heartbeat of Jenna…and the weakly beating one of John.

"Elena's standing outside the house," Katherine informed John, while he looked up at her, the life slowly draining out of him. "In about 20 seconds, she's going to come in and find her _dearly departed father…" _

"You…knew?" The words were barely audible, but Katherine's vampire hearing picked up on it.

"When will you and Isobel learn?" Katherine sighed, disappointed in the faith of her minions. "I know _everything…" _

"I don't want…her to see me…like this…"

"You mean dead?" Katherine said with a laugh. She heard a clink as Elena fumbled with her keys.

"_I love you Stefan." _

Katherine pursed her lips. Ah, so the poor girl was completely unaware of Damon's infatuation for her.

She turned back to John, "I'll grant you your dying wish," Katherine agreed abruptly, with a twisted smile.

John's eyes widened. Katherine raised her wrist to her fangs, and swiftly bit into it. She forced her wrist into John's mouth, ignoring his attempts to shove her away. "Just drink," she muttered, watching as her blood trickled down his lips, joining the pool on the kitchen floor.

The door opened, and Katherine breathed in Elena's scent with a smile. John sat up, watching in awe as his wounds disappeared, and his fingers regrew.

Sans the ring.

He opened his mouth to ask Katherine why she had helped him, when with lightning speed, she reached out and snapped his neck.

He fell back to the ground silently.

"_Jeremy? Are you up?" _

Katherine looked behind her before quickly grabbing John's body and whirling out the back door.

It slammed shut.

Katherine sped into the woods, but stopped a short distance away so she would be able to hear Elena's reaction to all the blood in her kitchen.

Katherine unceremoniously dropped John's body to the ground. She stared down at him in satisfaction.

The change would happen soon.

She couldn't wait for him to find out he was a vampire.

* * *

***so what do you guys think about this version of events? as with my last fic, I'll do my best to update everyday!**


	2. Thirst

Stefan backed up out of his driveway, his mind whirling.

Damn the overzealous Founder's Council, and damn those vengeance-seeking tomb vampires.

All of them were much more trouble than they were worth.

Stefan began driving towards the hospital when he caught Damon's scent. Frowning, Stefan let the car idle on the side of the road, waiting.

In a few seconds, Damon came into view. His hands were in pockets, and his face was down. He didn't appear to notice Stefan a few feet in front of him.

Stefan gripped the steering wheel tightly, debating. After a second, he decided that the hospital could wait.

He got out of the car, slamming the door in the process.

Damon looked up, startled.

"Where have you been?" Stefan demanded.

Damon's hand drifted towards his mouth in an absentminded gesture. A guilty expression crossed his face for a split second before disappearing. He shook his head slightly, as though to clear it. "I was just…talking to Jeremy," Damon shifted, briefly glancing at Stefan. "I wanted to apologize."

Stefan crossed his arms. He was sick and tired of Damon's twisted need to get on Elena's good side. "I told you that Elena's relationship with her brother was none of your business," Stefan reminded Damon, his words taking on an edge.

"Simmer down," Damon retorted, "I didn't tell Elena anything. I just thought that Jeremy should know…about Anna."

Stefan felt his skepticism rise. "So you did all of this out of the goodness in your heart? I find that hard to believe—"

"I don't _do _good," Damon interrupted, a flurry of emotions crossing his face. "I guess I just felt bad for the kid. Vicky Donovan's death was my fault, and now he's lost the only other girl that ever meant anything to him…"

"You felt bad for him," Stefan repeated flatly.

"Anna is the one who warned me that the tomb vampires were going to crash Founder's Day," Damon said abruptly. "When John Gilbert staked her…I wanted to help her, Stefan. But…I couldn't…"

"John Gilbert?" Stefan asked darkly.

Yet another person in this town who was more trouble than he was worth.

"Did you see where he went off to?"

Damon shook his head, "I went straight to see Jeremy…Then I started walking home."

Stefan narrowed his eyes at Damon. Something was off in Damon's demeanor, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was. What was he hiding now?"

"Okay," Stefan replied, deciding to accept Damon's story for now. "I'm on the way to the hospital to meet Elena. You should go home and sleep off the after effects of the vervain—"

"Elena?" Damon suddenly looked more alert. "You've…talked to her?"

"She just got home," Stefan answered suspiciously. "Why?"

Damon looked confused, "Just now?"

"Yes..." Stefan said slowly, taking in Damon's contemplative expression. "Is something wrong?"

Damon opened his mouth to answer when Stefan's cell phone rang. Stefan glanced at the called I.D.

Elena.

"I'm on my way to the hospital now," Stefan said into the phone, assuming that she wanted to know whether there had been news of Caroline. From the corner of his eye, he saw Damon tilt his head towards the phone, listening to Elena's side of the conversation.

"_Stefan? Oh god, Jeremy's in the hospital and they won't let us leave the house—" _she said hysterically.

"What happened?" Stefan asked immediately, getting back into his car. He didn't protest when Damon leapt into the passenger seat after him. "Who won't let you leave?"

"_The police...there's blood everywhere..." _she whispered fearfully.

Stefan pressed his foot on the gas pedal. "We're on the way," he promised, speeding forward.

* * *

Katherine smiled as she walked back into the woods, having successfully Compelled the investigating officer to not let anyone leave the Gilbert residence_—and _not to let anyone in.

"A stake would be nice," John grumbled loudly when he saw Katherine. "And maybe a lighter?"

"I didn't know you were a smoker."

"That's not why I want the lighter," John snapped, itching to wrap his fingers around Katherine's neck.

Katherine laughed, as if she knew exactly what he was thinking. "If you want a stake to try and kill me, you're a fool," she said sternly. "And if you want a stake to try and kill yourself...well, that would ruin my plans, so I don't think so."

"Your plan was to turn me into a vampire?" John asked incredulously.

"No," she admitted, "But this is a much better idea, isn't it?"

"Why are you doing this?" John asked through gritted teeth.

Katherine hissed, her friendly demeanor evaporating on the spot. "You and Isobel were planning on killing Stefan and Damon tonight."

John lifted his head, but didn't deny it. "You can't prove that."

"Do you honestly think that I left Isobel to be in charge of this whole operation _by herself?" _Katherine demanded, leaning closer so that her face was inches away from John's. "I know that Damon was in that burning building tonight, and I know that Stefan went after him_—"_

_"_So they're both dead?" John interrupted hopefully.

"Sorry to disappoint," Katherine smirked. "But they're both alive and kicking...well, as alive as a vampire can be," she amended.

John's mouth dropped open. "That's impossible! The flames were large enough to bury anyone alive_—"_

_"_Yes," Katherine agreed idly. "But they both escaped. I should, however, thank you for destroying the rest of the tomb vampires. They were becoming pesky little nuisances."

"Why did you want them dead, anyway?"

"The tomb vampires were a problem," Katherine said delicately. "They needed to be eliminated." She vamped out, narrowing her darkened eyes. "And make no mistake. You and Isobel _will pay_ for conspiring to kill Damon and Stefan."

"You can't tell me you're still in love with them," John scoffed.

"I don't have to tell you anything," Katherine snapped. She firmly grasped John's arm and began leading him back towards town. "Just know that you have begun your part of the punishment. Isobel's will come next."

"Why didn't you just kill me?" John growled, trying to resist.

"You told me you despised vampires," Katherine reminded him with a grin. "What could be a worse punishment for you than becoming one?"

John glared at her, "Where are we going?"

"You're freshly turned," Katherine explained with a smile. "That means you'll be bloodthirsty as hell. And I know _just _the perfect little snack for you to munch on..."

* * *

***thanks for the positive responses! i'm glad you're excited for this fic..because I'm excited to write it!**

**COMING UP NEXT: damon & elena's first interaction since "the kiss" ;) **


	3. Scent

"And who are you?"

Stefan stared bemusedly at the police officer who had answered Elena's door. "We're here to see Elena."

"I'm afraid I can't allow anyone in right now," the officer said rudely, looking down at his notepad. "This here is a _crime scene." _

"Oh, can't you bend the rules a little?" Damon flashed a smile. "We're just here to see _our _girlfriend…"

"No one gets in," the cop made to shut the door. Damon gave a little sigh of impatience and slammed his hand against the door to stop it.

He leaned forward dangerously. "_Let us in," _he commanded, his eyes dilating.

The police officer looked back at him, clearly unaffected by the Compulsion. "Are you two going to leave, or am I going to need some reinforcements?"

Damon frowned. The growing number of people in this town wearing vervain was beginning to get annoying.

There were footsteps, and Elena appeared behind the officer. "Stefan's my boyfriend," she said immediately, reaching a hand out to him. "You can let them in."

"Ms. Gilbert," the officer snapped, looking impatient. "I can't allow outsiders into a crime scene—"

"What's going on?" Jenna asked tiredly, walking over to Elena. She noticed Damon, and her expression hardened. "I thought you only called Stefan?"

Stefan glanced at Damon, who looked away. This was strange. Jenna had always harbored a soft spot for Damon. What had changed?

"No, I called them both," Elena lied quickly.

"Let them in," Jenna said, though she didn't look happy. "I need to get to the hospital to see how Jeremy is doing—"

Damon pushed his way past the officer, looking at Elena questioningly. "What exactly happened?"

She looked distressed, "I don't know! I heard this crash from the kitchen and when I went in, there was blood everywhere…I went upstairs to see if Jenna and Jeremy were okay, and…"

"And?" Stefan prompted, glancing at Damon suspiciously.

"I…couldn't wake him up," Elena whispered, her eyes starting to fill with tears. "I called 911 and then I called you…"

Damon frowned, looking past her. He breathed in, the strong scent of blood swimming in the air.

Familiar blood.

He walked towards the kitchen, almost in a daze.

It couldn't be.

There were several crime scene investigators crawling around the kitchen, testing for fingerprints.

But they had left the pool of blood undisturbed, and intact.

Damon breathed in again, feeling his fangs begin to protrude.

It was unmistakable.

It was _her _blood.

Someone grabbed his arm, and Damon turned away, trying to change back. After a moment, he felt his face go back to normal.

He turned to see Elena looking at him with concern, "Damon? Are you okay?"

Damon stared at her, examining her face. Not an ounce of guilt shadowed her expression. He unconsciously moved closer to her, and raised his hand to touch her cheek. He stopped himself when he saw the slight confusion in her eyes. "It wasn't you," he murmured, feeling as though he had been punched. "It wasn't you..."

Elena's frown deepened, and she looked even more concerned. "Stefan? I think there's something wrong with..." she trailed off.

Damon turned to see Stefan staring at him with a shocked expression. He had sensed _her_ as well.

"Could you please ask your boyfriends to step AWAY from the kitchen?" the officer snapped, and Damon whirled around, anger flashing in his eyes.

Elena quickly pulled the Salvatore brothers to the side, out of earshot of the others. She glanced up at Damon, and involuntarily shivered. She had never seen him look so…out of control. "What's wrong?" she demanded, feeling an inexplicable sense of foreboding.

"We recognize the scent of the blood in your kitchen," Stefan said quietly.

Elena looked at him wildly,"Who is it? Someone we know?"

Stefan took her hand within his, doing his best to soften the blow. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "But it's John Gilbert."

Elena's eyes widened, "But that's impossible! What about his ring?"

Stefan was silent, and he exchanged a glance with Damon. "There's something else you should know..."

Damon looked uncharacteristically serious. "There's a second person's blood mixed in with John's," he explained carefully.

Elena swallowed nervously, "Whose?"

His expression was stony, "Katherine's."

* * *

"You can't just walk into the hospital!" John protested, trying to hold Katherine back.

She shook him off easily, and placed her hands on her hips in annoyance. "The hospital is a public place, John," she reminded him. "No invitation necessary."

"If you think I'm going to take orders from you," he hissed, "I'm afraid you're mistaken—"

Katherine vamped out, grabbing his arm and shoving him against the building. "I _am_ your maker, and you _will _take my orders," she growled, baring her fangs. "Understood?"

"But..." John gritted his teeth as she twisted his arm even further. "Alright, alright!"

Katherine smiled pleasantly and immediately dragged John through the doors, trying her best to look concerned. They walked into the waiting room, which was nearly empty.

"Elena!" Matt jumped to his feet, looking worried. "They brought your brother in like ten minutes ago! What happened?"

"I don't know," Katherine said, wringing her hands. "When I got home, he wasn't breathing...Oh god, I hope he'll be okay! I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to him—"

"Shh," Matt said comfortingly. "Sit down," he gently led her to the seat across from him. "You're so pale..." he said, almost wonderingly.

John sat down next to her, shifting nervously. At that moment, the doors to the surgery room opened and the sheriff walked out. She stopped dead when she saw John. "_You!" _she spat. "How dare you show your face in this town again! My daughter might be dying and it's all your fault!"

Katherine opened her mouth to smooth over the situation when another person entered the waiting room.

The sheriff took a deep breath, visibly trying to calm herself down. "Alaric," she greeted. "I take it you've heard..."

"About Caroline, yes," he said regretfully. "If there's anything I can do..." he trailed off, noticing Katherine and John. His eyes narrowed, "Elena? What are you doing here? I just talked to Jenna and she said that none of you were able to leave the house...?"

* * *

***think Alaric is smart enough to figure it out? :P**


	4. Masquerade

**A/N: **Exactly one year ago, today, I joined fanfiction! It's been an amazing year, and a huge thank you to all my reviewers!

* * *

Katherine froze, feeling a surge of annoyance.

Alaric.

Her gaze drifted down, almost casually, to look at his hand.

And there was the ring.

"Jenna is on the way," John answered stiffly. "She sent us on ahead while she finished dealing with the investigating officers."

"Oh," Alaric said, nodding. He sighed and sat down next to the sheriff, looking tired. "It's been a long night."

"You can say that again," Matt muttered.

Katherine relaxed once he had bought the story. Humans were _so _easy.

She twiddled her thumbs, contemplating. She wanted John to feed off of one of these humans…But which one? The obvious choice was Jeremy…but she was actually curious to see what had happened to him. Then there was Caroline…Isobel had warned her about what a talkative little brat _that _one was…

Katherine's thoughts were interrupted as a breeze of fresh air floated into the room. She stiffened, sensing something…_or someone…_familiar.

"Oh my god, I came as fast I could!" Bonnie cried, running into the waiting room. "Is Caroline…?"

"They're prepping her for surgery," Matt answered tightly, standing up to give Bonnie a hug.

"Thank you for coming," Sheriff Forbes said, her voice sounding worn.

"Of course," Bonnie said immediately. "Caroline has always been one of my best friends…"

"Jeremy is here too," Matt added, glancing at Katherine.

"What?" Bonnie demanded, her eyes widening. "What happened?"

Katherine struggled to keep her emotions in check. After a moment, she composed herself. "I—I don't know. He wasn't breathing…"

"Oh Elena, I'm so sorry," Bonnie whispered, reaching over to give her friend a hug.

The minute she touched Katherine, Bonnie knew something was wrong.

Her senses tingled.

Vampire.

* * *

Elena sat on her bed, her legs folded up to her chest, and her head down. She could hear Damon and Stefan downstairs, loudly arguing with the police officers.

Compulsion wasn't an option at this point. There were too many people walking around the house, and Jenna was watching Damon with a hawk eye. Nor was she the only one acting odd...Damon was acting pretty strange, too.

Elena supposed that Katherine's blood had brought back a lot of memories for the Salvatore brothers. Whether they were pleasant memories or not, remained to be known.

"Knock, knock."

Elena looked up to see Damon enter her room. "Hey," she said quietly. "Any luck?"

Damon shook his head, wandering over to her mirror. "I swear all of them are wearing vervain or something…I tried to Compel a couple of them when they were on their own, but it didn't work."

"Maybe they've already been Compelled," Elena suggested.

"Yeah right, like anybody else could…" he trailed off, an arrested look crossing his face. "Damnit," he growled, his hand clenching around the doorknob.

There was a clanging sound and Elena looked up, startled.

Damon had broken the doorknob off her door.

"You're paying for that," Elena muttered, marching over to him and grabbing it out of his hand. "What's with you today, anyway?"

Damon looked slightly surprised at what had just happened, but his expression darkened almost immediately. "Katherine's blood was _in _your house, Elena! Has it not occurred to you that she's been invited in?"

"That's impossible," Elena protested. "How do you know that John didn't just, like, _have _some of her blood on him or something?"

Damon crossed his arms. "And in what scenario could that have been accomplished?"

"I don't know," Elena shrugged, pursing her lips. She refused to believe that Katherine had scored an invitation into her house. It was just too much. Her home was supposed to be a _safe _place, and if Katherine could come inside whenever she wanted, well…

Damon sighed, walking towards her. He placed his hands on her shoulders comfortingly. "Look, I know you don't want to believe it, but you can't…_not_ face reality…just because Katherine is involved—"

"Yeah, I know," Elena tried to walk away, unable to handle the intensity of his gaze. Unfortunately, the grip on her shoulders tightened, until it was almost painful. "Damon?"

He kept staring at her, almost as though he was waiting for something. Exactly what, she didn't know. After a few seconds, he abruptly released her. "I can't believe I thought…even for a second…" he muttered, his jaw clenching. "And of course it had to be _her…"_

Elena had no idea what Damon was talking about, or even who he was talking to. The mere idea of Katherine being close by seemed to have blown his mind into a series of incoherent thoughts. Elena couldn't believe that even after all these years, some _girl_ still had such a strong effect on Damon.

Maybe even on Stefan, though he hadn't been acting any differently.

Damon was still staring off into space and Elena bit her lip, wanting to jar him out of this _mood _he was in. "So," she began conversationally, "What do you think the chances of me escaping through this window are?"

Damon blinked, turning to her. She smiled at him tentatively. He laughed, in good spirits again. "Slim to none, Elena." He peered out of the window. "I, on the other hand, could _easily—"_

He broke off when Elena grabbed his wrist. "I don't think so," she warned. "You are _so _not leaving me to deal with these cops on my own."

He leaned closer to her and did _that eye thing_. "Wanna bet?"

There was a sudden whoosh, and he was gone.

Elena blinked, startled.

She slowly began walking over to the window, when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Elena jumped, her heart in her mouth.

She whirled around to see Damon grinning at her. "So little faith," he pouted. "Did you actually think I would leave?"

Elena breathed out slowly, trying to calm down. She smacked his arm lightly, "Don't _do _that!"

Damon smirked, "Ah, but I made you stop worrying for like 2 seconds, didn't I?"

She smiled slightly, realizing he had. "Yeah, I guess you did."

At that moment, her cell phone beeped. She began walking over to get it, when Damon blurred. Within a split second, he held her cell phone out to her.

Elena rolled her eyes, "Thanks."

She glanced down.

**TEXT** **MESSAGE**

**FROM: BONNIE. **

**hey, u didn't turn into a vamp and not tell me about it right?**

Elena squinted down at the message before showing it to Damon.

Damon read it quickly, his jaw clenching again. "That bitch is pretending to be you."

With a whoosh, he was gone.


	5. Power

**TEXT MESSAGE.**

**FROM: ELENA**

**seems Katherine is back in town. damon is on his way. **

Bonnie frowned down at her phone. Elena had sent _Damon _of all people to the hospital? Oh right, send the obsessive ex-lover right into Katherine's waiting arms.

Talk about bad ideas.

Elena might (for some odd reason) trust Damon, but practically handing him over to Katherine?

It was like waving an ice cream cone in front of a 5 year old.

Bonnie tapped her foot nervously, trying to think of a plan. She glanced over to see Katherine watching her closely. Great.

"I think I'm gonna get some coffee," Bonnie announced. "Anyone want anything? Mrs. Forbes?"

"That would be great, Bonnie, thanks," the sheriff answered gratefully.

"Some for me too," Katherine piped up, smiling. "You know how I like it, Bonnie."

"Of course," Bonnie replied, smiling back. "What kind of best friend would I be if I didn't know how you like your coffee? Um, Mr. Gilbert? Would you like some, too?"

Katherine nudged him in the ribs, and he gritted his teeth. "Um, yes. Thank you."

Bonnie nodded politely and began walking to the small cafeteria downstairs.

"Wait up!"

Bonnie turned to see Alaric following her. "I figured you could use a hand with carrying all that coffee back," he explained as he caught up with her.

As soon as they had reached the coffee area, Bonnie grasped Alaric's wrist. "I have to tell you something," she whispered urgently.

"Let me guess. That's Katherine up there, isn't it?"

Bonnie's mouth dropped open in surprise, "How did you know?"

"There was no way that Elena could be here, after I had _just _talked to Jenna…plus she kept looking my ring," Alaric said, holding up his hand.

"That ring doesn't belong to Katherine," Bonnie pointed out. "Isobel may have given it to you, but Emily Bennett is the one who put the spell on it."

"Your ancestor," Alaric stated. "And Katherine's best friend."

"I don't owe her anything," Bonnie said quickly.

"Of course not," he agreed. "But you never know how the mind of an evil vampire works."

"I bet I can provide some insight," a voice drawled from the doorway.

Bonnie whirled around to see Damon leaning casually, his arms crossed, and signature smirk in place. "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that," she snapped.

Damon narrowed his eyes, "And as a _witch, _a vampire shouldn't be _able _to sneak up on you."

Bonnie bit her lip, angry. He was right, and he knew it. "I—"

"Haven't honed in your magic yet," Damon interrupted, his eyes glinting. "But hey, if you want to fall prey to the likes of Katherine, be my guest."

Bonnie's eyes flashed, and she raised her head, focusing her power onto Damon. His eyes widened and he stumbled, clutching his head in pain.

"Stop it!" Alaric commanded, grabbing her arm.

Bonnie lost her focus, and Damon was immediately back on his feet. "Let your emotions rule you like that, and we're all dead," he snarled.

"Damon's right," Alaric interrupted, glancing at Bonnie warily. "You can't let your magic be provoked so easily. Katherine will use that to her advantage."

"What makes you think I'm gonna have anything to do with Katherine?" Bonnie demanded. "If she goes after Elena, or anyone I care about, then I'll step in…but if she's only after _her boys, _then I don't give a damn!"

"If you think that bitch is only here for me or Stefan, then you're more delusional than I thought," Damon retorted. "After 145 years, she's returned to Mystic Falls. It's definitely for something bigger than…anyone standing in this room."

Alaric returned Damon's gaze steadily. "I hope you don't think I'm getting involved in this. I think I have quite enough vampires walking in and out of my life at the moment."

"Isobel is a liability," Damon answered sharply. "She was working with John, and now that he's a vampire—"

"WHAT?" Bonnie and Alaric exclaimed in unison, both looking shocked.

Damon looked exasperated as he turned to Bonnie, "You didn't sense him?"

"I have to touch the person before I can tell…" she muttered, flushing under Damon's furious gaze. "I haven't had my powers for a very long time, okay?" she said defensively.

"Yet you could stop the flames in a burning building long enough to save my life."

Bonnie didn't say anything, surprised by the turn in the conversation.

"That's powerful magic," Damon continued, and his voice held a hint of respect. "But you have to learn the finer points of the craft as well, not just the flashy stuff." He gave her a small smile, "That's the mark of a good witch."

"You know a lot about it," Alaric commented drily.

Damon shrugged, "I've met a few witches in my time."

"So how did you know John was a vampire?" Bonnie asked, curious. "Because if you were close enough to sense him, then that means Katherine knows you're here, right?"

"Yeah, she saw me," he said dismissively. "I walked through the waiting room to get down here."

Bonnie blinked and Alaric stared at him incredulously. "_Well? _What did she say?"

"Asked me where Stefan was," Damon shrugged again. "She's pretending to be Elena, remember?"

"Where _is _Elena, anyway?"

* * *

Stefan stared incredulously down at his phone, re-reading the text message he'd gotten from Damon a couple minutes ago.

It was impossible.

And yet, definitely something Katherine would do.

He sighed as he walked up the stairs to Elena's room. He hated being the one to give her the bad news, but there was no else to do it.

First, he'd had to tell her that John Gilbert was her biological father.

Just a couple hours ago, he'd had to tell her that her father was dead.

And now he had to tell her that her father was, in fact, a vampire.

"Elena?" Stefan knocked softly on her bedroom door before walking in. Stefan frowned, looking around.

The room was empty.


	6. Goodbye

"Katherine put half the police force under Compulsion," Damon was explaining. "Guess she wanted to keep Elena and Jenna out of the way so her and John could stake out the hospital." He paused, and then grinned, "No pun intended."

"So, Elena's still at home?" Bonnie frowned. "Is that safe? I mean, Katherine's been invited in…"

"Which is exactly why I'm here," Damon interrupted. "I can sense Katherine, and she's still upstairs. And of course, my dear brother is keeping Elena company."

"Oh," Bonnie nodded, relieved. She might not like vampires, but she knew Stefan would risk his life to protect Elena if anything happened.

Damon's phone beeped and he looked down at it.

**TEXT MESSAGE.**

**FROM: STEFAN.**

**elena's gone from her room. she with you?**

Damon nearly dropped his phone in anger. Was it really that hard to keep track of one human? Stefan was a disgrace to the vampire race.

Forget that, he was a disgrace to the Salvatore name. Even when Damon had been human, he could've easily kept track of a beautiful girl…

"Never mind," he said abruptly to the others. "Apparently our little Elena has gone missing."

"_What?" _Alaric demanded.

"Stefan says she seems to have escaped from her room…How, I don't know," Damon's eyes narrowed. He couldn't possibly imagine what had convinced her to leave the safety of her home.

He dialed Stefan's number quickly, his temper rising to the surface. Stefan answered on the first ring.

"_Where is she?"_

"How the hell would I know?" Damon snapped. "Can't keep an eye on your own girlfriend? Not good, little brother, not good at all."

"_She could be anywhere by now!"_

"Yes," Damon agreed coldly. "She could."

"_Katherine—"_

"Is masquerading as Elena at the hospital," Damon cut in smoothly. "With the not so dearly departed Jonathan Gilbert. Man, I can't wait to stake that guy…"

"_Where could she have gone?" _

"No idea. Look, have the officers left yet? The sheriff is here because of Caroline and I told her what was going on. She said she'd place a call into the station to get them to leave."

"_Yeah, they just left. What the hell am I supposed to tell Jenna?" _

"The truth?" Damon suggested, rolling his eyes. "You bring Jenna to the hospital and drive as slowly as possible. I'll try to find Elena in the meantime."

Damon hung up without waiting for an answer. "You two go upstairs and act like everything is normal," he commanded. "I'll go find Elena."

"Maybe I can help—" Bonnie began, but Damon had already disappeared.

* * *

Elena shivered in the chill of the night air. She glanced at her watch, and sighed inwardly, looking around the deserted park.

"I'm glad you came," a voice called, and Elena smiled grimly.

"You kept me waiting long enough," Elena replied, crossing her arms. "It wasn't exactly easy to get away."

"I knew you could manage if you tried," Isobel smiled as she came out of the shadows. "You are, after all, my daughter."

"It didn't seem to mean much to you before."

"And it still doesn't," Isobel responded coldly.

"How did you manage to Compel that cop into giving me your message?"

"I was keeping an eye on your house. I saw him go to his squad car for something, so I took a chance."

"So you thought it was perfectly alright for me to sneak out of my house at midnight by myself just to meet you, so you could...what, exactly?"

"Katherine has turned John Gilbert into a vampire."

Elena's mouth dropped open. "No," she whispered.

"Seems fitting, doesn't it? That both your biological parents are now vampires?" Isobel hedged, "That is, after all, your future..."

Elena felt strangely uncomfortable, as though Isobel's words had a shred of truth in them. She had a sudden, vivid mental image of Stefan, Damon, Isobel, John, and Katherine all circling around her, as she stood_—_the sole human left.

"Keep talking like that, and she'll think you're going to turn her yourself," a cool voice said.

Isobel didn't look happy as she turned to see Damon step out from the trees. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"I live here," Damon said pleasantly. "And you?"

"I needed to talk to Elena. Privately," she added pointedly.

Damon took a seat on the swing, with a sarcastic smile. "Just pretend I'm not here."

"Did you know that John was a vampire?" Elena asked loudly.

"Yes, I just saw him at the hospital," Damon looked annoyed. "It wasn't your place to tell her, Isobel."

"Her original plan was to kill him," Isobel continued as though Damon hadn't spoken. "But I guess she decided that being a vampire would be a worse punishment for him."

"Because he loathes vampires so much," Elena realized, for the first time feeling a twinge of sympathy for John. _What it must feel like to become what you despised..._

"And perhaps you can provide some insight onto the matter of why she wanted to kill him?" Damon asked, blurring until he was standing next to Elena.

"Because she found out that he tried...that _we _tried...to have you and Stefan killed tonight." Isobel pursed her lips, "Katherine wasn't too happy about that."

Damon opened his mouth to reply but Elena quickly interrupted, "So she _has _come back for them?" Isobel didn't say anything, and Elena's eyes flashed with anger. "She has no right! She _abandoned_ them...She can't just_—_just waltz back into town and, like, reclaim them or something! They're not her _property!" _

_"_She came back to punish me and John," Isobel said abruptly. "What her plan is after that, I don't know." She glanced at Damon before turning to look at Elena. "I called you here to tell you that you probably will never see me again. I'm leaving town, but no one can outrun Katherine for long." She smiled slightly, "What Katherine wants, Katherine gets."

"So...you came to say goodbye?" Elena asked, stunned.

"I guess I did," Isobel began backing away. "Tell Alaric...what I said." She moved into the trees, "Elena...realize now what Katherine became. What I became. Why Stefan despises himself. Why Damon will eternally seek redemption. You don't want this life, Elena...save yourself before you're sucked in with the rest of us."

Then she was gone.

Elena wrapped her arms around herself, feeling oddly empty. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Damon staring at her. He looked unsure, and slightly wary. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, and she turned away from Damon as she began walking back home.

Within a second, he was beside her. He didn't say anything, but he carefully placed an arm around her shoulders, and drew her close to his side.

They walked like that the rest of the way.


	7. Savior

Elena didn't realize where they were going until she saw the hospital in front of her. She stopped short, surprised. "Why did you bring me here?"

Damon looked confused, "Where else would I bring you?"

"But Katherine is here," Elena pointed out, unnecessarily.

"She _was _here," Damon corrected. "She left with John when she sensed that we were approaching."

"Oh." Elena still didn't move.

Damon took a few steps, then realized she wasn't following him. He walked back and stood in front of her, searching her gaze. "What's wrong?"

"I—" Elena's voice caught, and she couldn't continue. What could she have said anyway? _I don't want anymore bad news tonight? What if Jeremy still hasn't woken up? What if Caroline's surgery has gone wrong? What if Katherine has found Isobel already? What if I never see my birth mother again?_

Suddenly, she felt extremely lightheaded. She swayed on the spot, watching the scene dance before her as her vision clouded over.

"Elena!" _Was that Damon? He sounded so far away…_

She was distinctly aware of someone catching her as she fell, then she remembered no more.

* * *

"Now wasn't that a nice meal?" Katherine cooed, patting John's head.

John growled, glaring up at her as blood ran down his fangs. He threw the lifeless body from his arms, staring down at the girl in disbelief. "What—what did you make me do? You Compelled me!"

"Vampires can't Compel other vampires, honey. You drained that poor girl all on your own," Katherine smiled, enjoying John's horror. "How does it feel?" she whispered softly, her eyes glinting with excitement. "Can you feel the _life _flowing through your veins...It's amazing, isn't it?"

"Oh god," he breathed, stepping away from Katherine. "Is—is she dead?"

Katherine sighed and knelt down to feel the girl's pulse. Nothing. "I think she'll live," Katherine lied easily. "Let's go."

"Where are we going _now?" _John grumbled, following Katherine deeper into the woods.

"Believe it or not, I didn't just come back to Mystic Falls to make you one of the undead," Katherine snapped. "And now you get to help me with my plans."

"What plans?"

"You'll see."

* * *

Elena blinked twice, staring at the harsh overhead lights. She looked at the white walls, realizing she wasn't in her room. She sat up slowly, recognizing that she in the hospital.

"Thank god, you're awake!"

"Aunt Jenna?" Elena asked in confusion. "What am I doing here? What happened?"

Jenna came closer to her bed, looking worried. "Damon said he found you outside the hospital, passed out. He brought you in...Elena, why would you sneak out of the house like that? Do you have any idea how worried I've been? What if something had happened?"

There was a knock on the door, and Stefan walked in. He smiled slightly when he saw Elena was awake, but his expression became serious almost immediately. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Elena said impatiently. "What about Jeremy? Caroline?"

"Caroline is still in surgery," Stefan answered, glancing at Jenna. "And Jeremy...he'll be okay."

Jenna smiled, brushing Elena's hair out of her face. "Apparently he tried to..." she stopped. "The doctors said they had to pump his stomach. He's resting now."

"What?" Elena frowned, "Was he drinking or something?"

"No, sweetie. But, he'll be okay. That's all that matters," Jenna got up, nodding to Stefan. "I'll go let the doctor know that Elena woke up."

Elena waited till her aunt had left before turning to Stefan with a frown. "What really happened? Why am I here?"

Stefan didn't come any closer, and hovered by the door. "The shock...the doctor said it seemed like you had a delayed reaction to the events of tonight, and your body couldn't handle the pressure anymore."

"Ah, is my favorite damsel in distress feeling better?" Damon asked, suddenly appearing next to Stefan.

Elena rolled her eyes at his phrase, but she smiled, "I am. Thank you."

"At your service, milady," Damon grinned, blurring until he was standing in front of her. He picked up her hand, and gently kissed the back of it. Elena's sparkling eyes told him that she, too, remembered that he had done the same when they had first met.

Stefan shifted, clearly uncomfortable with the situation in front of him. "Everyone's waiting to see how you are," he said pointedly. "I'll go get them."

As soon as Stefan left, Damon dropped the act, and looked at Elena seriously. "I already told Stefan and Alaric about what Isobel said."

"What did they say?"

"They got all broody with each other," Damon quipped, winking at Elena.

Some of the tension she had been holding released from her body, and Elena relaxed. If Damon could still joke around, then things couldn't be that bad, right?

Elena lay back sleepily, and smiled at Damon. "Thank you. For being there when Isobel..." she trailed off. "Just...thanks..." she drifted off, falling into a dreamless sleep.

Damon stared down at her, his expression free of the facade he presented to the rest of the world.

Feeling a twinge in his heart, he gently stroked her cheek. After a moment, Damon's expression hardened and he swore to himself that he would personally put an end to Katherine.

Even if it was the last thing he ever did.


	8. Council

When Elena woke up, sunlight was streaming through her window. She looked around, confused to find herself back in her own bedroom.

"How are you feeling?"

Elena jumped, startled. Bonnie was sitting on a chair in the corner of her room, a large book open on her lap.

"Bonnie? What are you doing here?" Elena asked, sitting up to get a good look at her friend. Bonnie was smiling, but there were dark circles around her eyes, and she looked exhausted.

"Just keeping an eye out for my best friend," she put the book down and came to sit on the edge of Elena's bed. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, I think so…how did I get home?" Elena slowly got out of bed, feeling disoriented.

"Jenna and Alaric brought you back," Bonnie hesitated, "Jeremy is back home, too."

"Really?" Elena asked hopefully. "So, he's really okay?"

"He's just resting…" Bonnie shifted uncomfortably. "Stefan told me to stay here over night so I could warn them if Katherine showed up."

"Oh yeah...Katherine has a ring, too." Elena frowned, "I forgot."

"At least John doesn't. So we won't have to worry about him until tonight."

Elena gestured to the book on Bonnie's lap, "A bit of light reading?" she joked.

"Gram's spellbook," Bonnie smiled sadly for a moment, before shaking herself off. "Damon told me to find an uninvitation spell for your house."

"To uninvite Katherine," Elena realized gratefully. "That would be perfect. Any luck yet?"

Bonnie shook her head, but she looked determined. "Don't worry, I'll find one."

"I'm sure you will," Elena agreed. "But right now, you're going to get some sleep."

"But—"

"No excuses," Elena said firmly, forcing Bonnie to lie down. She carefully placed a blanket over her, "You better be sleeping by the time I get back," she ordered.

By the time Elena had brushed her teeth, Bonnie was fast asleep.

* * *

Damon stormed back into the boarding house, already in a bad mood. He went straight to the liquor, and took a swig straight from the bottle.

"Isn't it kind of early to be drinking?"

"Isn't it kind of late to be coming in?" Damon returned sarcastically, turning to see Stefan walk through the door. "Where have you been?"

"I just got back from the hosptial," Stefan said pleasantly. "What's your excuse?"

Damon hesitated for a minute, "I was trying to find Katherine's trail."

"And?"

"I found a dead girl in the woods. Blonde. Pretty. Completely drained."

Stefan groaned, "Great. Katherine probably fed the girl to John."

Damon poured the whiskey into a glass this time and offered it to Stefan, "Yeah, that's not all."

Stefan took the glass slowly, but didn't drink from it. "What do you mean?"

"The girl was...mutilated. It was something beyond what Katherine could have done."

"Mutilated?"

"Bitten, clawed, eaten," Damon elaborated. "It definitely wasn't the work of a vampire."

Stefan furrowed his brow, looking confused. "You think there really might be some sort of wild animal in the woods?"

Damon looked back at him, his face expressionless. "It _is _Mystic Falls, after all_."  
_

* * *

"So Caroline is going to be okay?" Elena smiled, listening to Mrs. Forbes' relieved chatter on the other end of the phone. "That's great! I'm on my way to the hospital right now," she promised before hanging up.

"You're up early," Jenna commented, walking sleepily into the kitchen. "Up before 9 AM on a Saturday morning? Are you sure you're feeling better?"

"Just fine," Elena chirped, grinning. "Guess what? Apparently Caroline just woke up from the surgery, and everything went fine."

"That's wonderful news," Jenna smiled, but it didn't quite reach the darkness in her eyes. "Are you going to visit her?"

"Yeah, I was planning on it..." Elena said slowly, noticing her aunt's expression. "Is something wrong?"

"Honey, I didn't want to tell you about Jeremy last night because you were under a lot of stress, but you should know what happened."

Elena frowned, remembering the hesitant way Bonnie had talked about Jeremy as well. "Is he okay? I thought he was just sleeping in his room?"

"He is," Jenna said quickly. "And he'll be okay...but he has to go see a counselor this afternoon."

"A counselor? For what?"

Jenna sighed, smiling sadly. "You should probably sit down for this..."

* * *

"Sheriff Forbes," Damon greeted as he walked into the police station. "I wasn't expecting your call today. Is everything alright?"

The sheriff sighed, looking tired. "I'm sorry to call a meeting on such short notice, but there's been another animal attack in the woods."

Damon looked around the room, realizing that most of the Founder's Council was gathered there. "But I thought all the vampires were burned to death last night," he frowned. "Weren't they?"

"Yes," Liz answered heavily. "And so was Mayor Lockwood."

Damon tried to look like this information was new to him. "_What? _You're kidding! How did he end up in there?"

The sheriff shook her head, "Apparently he collapsed when that Gilbert device was turned on. Two of my deputies took him away."

"He wasn't a vampire," someone said suddenly, tearfully.

Damon turned to see Mrs. Lockwood step out from the corner of the room. "I know my husband," she insisted. "He wasn't a vampire."

_No, but he was something else. "_I'm so sorry for your loss," Damon replied sorrowfully. "Do you need any help with the funeral arrangements?"

Mrs. Lockwood smiled briefly, "Thank you, Damon. But John has already taken care of everything."

Damon paused, his eyes narrowing. "I'm sorry, John...who?"

"You've forgotten about me already?" John Gilbert stepped into the office, his gaze on Damon as he subtly held his hand out into the sunlight behind him. A ring twinkled innocently on his finger.

* * *

** *so i'll be impressed if anyone can guess whose ring John is wearing :) **


	9. Visitor

**A/N: **Sorry I didn't reply to anyone's reviews, but I didn't want to ruin the surprise of whose ring it was. I _will _say that a lot of you guessed correctly!

* * *

Elena sat uncomfortably next to Jeremy as the counselor peered down at them politely. "Is there anything you would like to tell me about yourself?"

"Um," Elena answered noncommittally.

Jeremy folded his arms, glaring at the floor.

"I see," the counselor said pleasantly. "Well, let's start with how you feel about being here, Jeremy."

"I _feel _like this is useless. And I also _feel _like I wouldn't be here if Elena hadn't interfered. As usual."

The counselor pounced on this bit of information like a vulture finally catching its prey. "As usual, you say? So your Elena often interferes in decisions that you believe are none of her business?"

"Wait a minute," Elena protested, unable to believe what she was hearing. "Jeremy is my brother! I might not always know what's best for him, but it's my responsibility to look after him—"

"Except I'm not really your brother, am I?" Jeremy shot back at her.

"Just because I'm adopted doesn't mean I don't think of you as family," Elena replied firmly, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, well, it doesn't give you the right to make _life-changing _decisions for me, just because you think it's the best thing to do! I'm not a child!"

"Could have fooled me," Elena snapped, losing her temper.

The counselor watched, his face expressionless, as Elena grabbed her purse and stormed to the door. "I think it's best if Jeremy continues this session on his own," she muttered, slamming the door behind her.

Elena let her feet lead the way, her mind whirling. God, did Jeremy really hate her that much? So much that he had tried to _kill _himself?

Before long, she realized where she was.

Feeling an odd sense of comfort, Elena sat down in front of her parents' gravestones. She hadn't been here in a while, and just being here made her feel a sense of _belonging. _

There was a sudden rustle in the trees, and Elena looked up quickly. She relaxed when a crow flew out and landed on a stone nearby.

_Just a bird. _

"Hello, Elena."

Elena stifled a scream, jumping up and stumbling against something solid.

"Whoa, easy there," Damon chuckled, grasping her arms as she struggled to catch her balance. "Keep falling around me, and I'm going to start thinking you like it when I _catch _you," he waggled his eyebrows suggestively, holding on to her wrists for a moment longer than necessary before letting go.

"Damon," Elena caught her breath, feeling her face begin to redden. "I didn't hear you—"

"Vampire thing," Damon shrugged, leaning forward just close enough to make her uncomfortable. His eyes sparkled, "Makes it easier to catch our…prey."

Elena shifted, looking away. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"I just got back from a Founder's Council meeting," Damon replied, abruptly dropping the flirty act, and becoming serious. "You'll never believe who was there with a shiny new ring…"

"Uncle John," Elena guessed instantly, her fears confirmed. "How? Whose ring is it? Not Isobel's?"

"No, not hers…not mine, not Stefan's, and not Katherine's…"

"Do you think she made a new one or something?"

"Emily Bennett is the only witch I know that would associate with a vampire like Katherine," Damon shook his head. "There isn't anyone around now that could make a new ring…"

"So?" Elena prodded curiously.

Damon sighed, not looking happy. "I recognized the ring. It was the one Anna was wearing the last time I...saw her."

"My god, Katherine actually dug through the ashes in that building to find Anna's ring?" Elena felt sick and she quickly changed the subject, "Why was there a Council meeting anyway? Was it about what happened last night?"

"Yeah, well, the sheriff wanted John to be kicked off the Council for going against her orders last night…but then he somehow got into the good graces of Mrs. Lockwood by volunteering to take care of all the funeral arrangements. So yeah, looks like he's not going anywhere anytime soon."

"He just keeps coming back," Elena said gloomily, following Damon out of the cemetery. "Any news about Katherine?"

Damon's mouth tightened for a moment before he answered, "No, but there's been some suspicious activity in the woods." He glanced at Elena before continuing, "I found a dead girl there last night. She'd been sucked dry...but then she was attacked by something else."

Elena stopped walking, turning to face Damon in disbelief. "Something else?" she demanded, "Like what?"

"The sheriff thinks it was an animal attack," he paused, "and I agree with her."

* * *

"You're kidding," Alaric said flatly, his voice devoid of emotion. "You think there's _something else _in Mystic Falls? What more could possibly be here besides all you vampires? Big Foot? The Loch Ness Monster?"

Damon shot him a scathing look, "I don't believe you're taking me seriously, Alaric."

"I told you I didn't want to be involved in this," Alaric snapped. "Now that your psycho ex has driven my wife into hiding—"

Damon stood up abruptly, super speeding to the door to block the exit. "Okay, I get that you're upset with Katherine. We all are. But, there's something bigger going on here." Alaric merely glared, and Damon emphasized, "Bigger than the bitch that is Katherine."

Alaric sighed, sitting back down. "Fine, what kind of supernatural thing are we talking about exactly?"

"I'm not sure," Damon swirled around the contents of his glass thoughtfully. "But it has something to do with the Lockwoods. The mayor wasn't burned alive last night for being a vampire...But there's no way he could be human."

"What did the wife say?"

"She doesn't know a thing. She just kept insisting that her husband wasn't a vampire, which is obviously true..." Damon trailed off, debating. "I think our best bet is Tyler."

"What does—"

Damon held out a hand to stop Alaric from talking, frowning as he caught the strong scent of blood in the air. "Stefan?" Damon called up the stairs, not taking his eyes off the door. "You haven't been indulging in a little human blood again, have you?"

There was no answer.

"Stefan? Oh brother, where art thou?" Damon said loudly, stiffening as the scent got stronger.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Before Damon could move, the door burst wide open.

And there was Katherine.

She wasn't alone.

* * *

***ah, the return of my cliffhangers. you guys missed them, right? ;) **


	10. Taken

"Hello Damon," Katherine said sweetly, "May I come in?" Before Damon could react, she stepped over the threshold. "It's so nice to be able to walk into places without an invitation, isn't it?"

"She's been invited in?" Alaric demanded, frowning in Damon's direction.

"Do you honestly think—"

"This is a vampire's residence," Katherine cut in smoothly. "No invitation necessary." She heaved a sigh, "Though, if you had been smarter, you would have signed the ownership of the boarding house over to a human. Without that...well, us vampires can just come and go as we please, can't we John?"

John muttered something, but didn't come inside.

Katherine turned to glare at him, "Why don't you join us?"

"Where's Stefan?" Damon asked abruptly.

"He's outside Elena's house," Katherine answered promptly. "Next question?"

"And what is he doing there?" Damon hissed through gritted teeth.

Katherine pretended to ponder, "Well, he's not doing much of anything really. He _was _there to watch over Elena, but obviously that was a failure on his part."

Alaric stepped forward, his gaze darting between Katherine and John. "What do you mean? What did you do to him?"

"Nothing much," Katherine replied breezily. "Just dosed him up with some vervain, he should be out cold for the next hour or so."

"An hour?" Damon bellowed. "Good god, how much vervain did you give him?"

Katherine's gaze was steely, "Enough to keep him out of the way."

She turned then and walked past John to rummage with something on the ground outside. Damon froze as the scent of human blood hit him again.

"I brought you a little treat," Katherine called to him, and she moved with lightning speed to deposit two bodies at Damon's feet.

He looked down in horror.

Elena and Bonnie lay on the ground; cold, unmoving.

"Oh my god," Alaric rushed forward, and knelt down to find a pulse. "What did you do to them! How did you—" he broke off, breathing a sigh of relief. "It's okay, they're still alive..." He looked up at Damon, and was shocked to see his expression.

Damon didn't move.

He didn't even blink.

"Damon?" Alaric said uncertainly, more than a little unnerved. "Did you hear me? I said they were still breathing..." Faster than he could blink, Damon suddenly had Katherine pinned to the wall, his hands clutching her throat. "You cold hearted bitch," Damon growled, his fangs protruding in his rage. "How dare you come into _my _town and—"

Katherine merely laughed, and she made a kissing noise with her lips before pouting. "Aw, no kiss this time, lover?"

Damon let go of her just as suddenly and he backed away, his face twisted with fury. "How did you get your hands on the witch?" he demanded. "She has powers, she would have used them against you—"

"Yes, she _would _have," Katherine agreed, "Too bad she couldn't." Katherine grinned and reached into pocket, pulling out a long silver chain. A large red jewel hung at the end of it. Damon frowned as he stared at it...it looked familiar...

"This used to belong to Pearl," Katherine explained, walking forward slowly and holding it out to Damon. The minute it passed over Bonnie, it glowed red. "It has the power to hinder a witch's powers to be completely useless," Katherine smiled widely. "And of course, Elena was easy enough to capture. I _have _been invited into her home, as you very well know."

"Your own daughter?" Alaric said in disbelief to John. "You_ let_ her to do this to your own flesh and blood?"

"He didn't have a choice," Katherine said coldly, watching as Damon leant over Elena and Bonnie protectively. "I created him, after all..."

Elena stirred suddenly, and everyone froze. "_Not my family..." _she mumbled. "_Not Jeremy.." _Her eyes flew open, and she gasped. "NO! I WON'T LET YOU—"

"Shh, shh," Damon said desperately, cradling Elena in his arms. "Hey, look at me. You're safe now, okay? Elena, can you hear me? I won't let anything happen to you..."

Katherine scowled.

"Damon?" Elena clutched onto Damon's arm. "You have to help them! Katherine, she—" Elena chose this moment to look at the body lying next to her. "Bonnie! Oh my god, is she—?"

"She's alive," Katherine interrupted, watching as Elena grasped Damon even more tightly in fear. "But, just barely." She grinned and blurred, picking up Bonnie and slipping the necklace over her ahead. Without a second glance, she dropped Bonnie back onto the floor behind her. "The longer that necklace stays around her neck, the sooner her powers will deteriorate."

John shifted slightly, but when Alaric looked at him, his face was expressionless.

Elena struggled to stand up, and Damon protectively kept his arms around her. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I have a proposition for you, Damon," Katherine smiled seductively, her eyes glistening. "And if you don't agree to it, then I'll make you _all_ watch as the witch dies..."


	11. Deal

**A/N:** my new True Blood fic is up! check it out ;)

* * *

Damon stood in front of the fireplace, his arms crossed as he stared at the scene before him.

It was utterly bizarre.

Katherine and Elena sat exactly opposite each other, both seated in the same pose. Hell, they were even wearing similar clothing—all black, all doom and gloom. Every detail was the same, right down to the chains hanging around their necks.

Yet, all Damon had to do was look at their faces in order to tell them apart.

Elena looked scared, yet at the same time, oddly defiant. Her chin was up, and she stared back at Katherine unflinchingly.

Katherine, of course, wore her usual cold and calculating smile. Her eyelids drooped with manufactured boredom as she turned to look at Damon, her eyebrows raised. "Ready to get started?"

Damon took a seat next to Elena, watching as she unconsciously adjusted herself so that she was sitting closer to him. He smiled slightly when he realized Katherine had noticed the movement as well. But she didn't comment on it, and reached into her jacket before pulling out a small book. She laid it on the table in front of her, and Damon leaned forward with a frown. "What is that?"

"A journal," Katherine replied. "From 1864."

"The Gilbert journal?" Elena asked, exchanging a look with Alaric. "That's impossible."

"No, not the Gilbert journal," Katherine paused. "It's the Lockwood journal."

"Well, what's so important about that?" Elena frowned, "Wait, how did you get your hands on that anyway? Wasn't it in their house?"

"Good heavens, no. It was in the mayor's office…or should I say _former _mayor's office. Seeing as how he's dead now…" Katherine smiled expectantly.

"Anything interesting in it?" Damon asked lazily, leaning back onto the sofa. "Or just the usual ramblings about their hatred of vampires?"

"Actually it was quite interesting…the Lockwoods have been sitting on the _most _fascinating family secret…" Katherine grinned.

Damon tried not to look too interested, knowing that Katherine liked to hold secrets to herself. "Like what?" he yawned, "Did someone marry a cousin or something?"

Katherine glared at him, visibly annoyed. "I'll have you know that there's something supernatural hidden in that family," she said smugly. "You'll never guess what they are."

Damon sat up, foregoing any pretense of boredom. He was curious, and she knew it. "I figured he had to be _something _since he was affected by the Gilbert device," he leaned forward eagerly. "What are they?"

Katherine paused for dramatic effect.

"Werewolves."

Elena began laughing, and soon Alaric joined her. "That's ridiculous," she glanced at Damon, and sobered when she realized he hadn't even cracked a grin. "Right?" she insisted.

Damon's mind was whirling…_Tyler's hot temper, his automatic hatred of Stefan, the mayor's determination to get rid of the vampires…_

"You know it's true," Katherine whispered.

"Let's just say that I believe you," Damon said abruptly. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"Easy," Katherine folded her hands in her lap. "I want you to get rid of the werewolves."

"The mayor is already dead," Elena pointed out.

Katherine rolled her eyes, "I was talking about Tyler."

At that moment, Bonnie moaned, "_No, not…you CAN'T…I won't let you!" _She gasped, struggling to sit up, but the jewel on her chest glowed even more brightly and she slumped back to the ground weakly. Her head turned, and her eyes widened when she saw everyone gathered there. "Elena…"

"She can't help you right now," Katherine snapped, "No one can. Not until Damon accepts my deal."

"Let me get this straight," Alaric interrupted, "You want Damon to kill _Tyler?_"

"That's right," Katherine smiled. "Of course, Stefan may help if he wishes."

"_I'll...kill…him," _Bonnie said through clenched teeth. She gasped for air, and Elena shifted worriedly. "_You...know...my terms." _

"Bonnie only saved me tonight on the condition I wouldn't spill anymore innocent blood," Damon explained to Katherine with a straight face. "So…looks like I can't kill Tyler," he shrugged. "Oh well."

Elena's eyes were narrowed, "Why can't you just kill him yourself? Aren't you stronger than Damon and Stefan anyway?"

"Oh sweetie, of course I _could _kill Tyler myself," Katherine tilted her head, "But I want my boys to be the ones to do it."

Damon sat back, considering her proposal. "If I do this, then you'll leave town?"

"You can't be serious!" Alaric exploded.

Katherine sat back, satisfied, as the two began arguing loudly.

Elena didn't appear to be listening to the argument, and instead glared at Katherine.

Katherine smiled back at her doppelganger pleasantly, and began humming a tune under her breath.

Elena frowned, leaning forward subconsciously to hear what Katherine was humming. It sounded so familiar…She closed her eyes, trying to remember. As she did, snatches of the tune caught in her mind.

_All my agony fades away…_

Elena frowned, where had she heard that before?

_Make my heart a better place…_

The room suddenly became dead silent as Damon froze, turning to look at Katherine.

Elena snapped her fingers, the song finally clicking in her mind. "From the dance! From—" she broke off, realizing what she was saying. "But how could you know that?" she asked slowly, "You weren't there…"

Katherine smirked, "Are you sure about that?" She let her lips curve upwards, her eyes glinting with malice. "Damon just looked so…_thrilled _to be holding you in his arms. It was quite sickening, actually."

Elena stiffened, avoiding Damon's gaze. "It wasn't like that. He was just being a good friend."

"A friend, huh?" Katherine drawled suggestively, "That's not what Isobel told me."

_Because he's in love with you…_

Elena shook her head, trying to get rid of the memory. "Isobel was just trying to cause trouble," she said quickly, still not looking at Damon. "She didn't want me to be with Stefan because he's a vampire, and—"

Katherine began laughing, and she turned to look at Damon. "Sorry honey, but looks like you can never tell your girlfriend about that kiss…" she ran her fingers seductively over her own lips and then winked at him. "Too bad I was never good at keeping secrets…"

Elena froze, "What kiss?"


	12. Kiss

Stefan groaned, trying to sit up. His body felt sluggish, and he realized that the vervain was still in effect.

"That's right, wake up," a voice said urgently.

Stefan blinked several times, his mind quickly catching up with the latest events. "Hello?" he said uncertainly. "Who's there?"

A pair of hands reached towards him and pulled him out of the bushes he was lying in. And promptly dropped him unceremoniously onto the ground. Stefan groaned and slowly stood up.

His mouth dropped open.

"Isobel."

"Took you long enough to regain consciousness," she said sharply. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm...okay," Stefan replied, narrowing his eyes. "What are you doing here? Did Katherine send you?"

Isobel looked like she was going to laugh. "Katherine is out to kill me, Stefan. I don't work for her anymore."

"Then who do you work for?" Stefan asked, without missing a beat. "John? Damon?"

Isobel frowned, "No. Look, I've been keeping an eye on things—"

"I thought you told Elena you were leaving town," Stefan interrupted suspiciously. "Aren't you on the run?"

"It was important for Elena to know she wasn't going to see me again. But I needed to know that she was safe."

"From who?"

Isobel gestured for Stefan to follow her. "Let's go. We have a lot to talk about."

* * *

"_What kiss?" _Elena repeated when no one answered her. Katherine was smiling sweetly, Damon was glaring at her, and Alaric was looking in between all of them with exasperation.

"I'm not surprised Damon didn't tell you," Katherine broke the silence as she walked in a slow circle around Damon. "He's never been one to…kiss and tell."

Elena felt her stomach drop. _They _had kissed? She looked down, "Oh."

"It's not what you think," Damon said sharply, noticing Elena's expression.

"Oh, don't be modest," Katherine purred. "Just because we _look _identical doesn't mean that—"

"Be quiet," Damon snarled, and Katherine fell silent.

Elena wasn't listening. After all his talk about how Katherine was a bitch, he had actually_ kissed_ her! Not only that, he had then tried to hide it…

"Elena..."

"It's okay, Damon," Elena interrupted calmly. "I can understand why you'd still be in love with her. After all, you _did _spend 145 years searching for her. I don't know why I thought you'd suddenly get over your obsession just because you found out she clearly didn't love you the same way—"

"Our love will last an eternity, Elena," Katherine breathed. "Long after you're dead and gone..."

"I thought I told you to BE QUIET!"

"Oh simmer down Damon," Katherine grinned, "I'm just trying to let your girlfriend down easy..."

Alaric cleared his throat, "As much as I hate to interrupt your little soap opera going on here, I think we have more pressing matters to attend to?"

"Yes, of course," Katherine replied immediately. "So, what of my deal, Damon? If you kill Tyler, then I'll leave Mystic Falls and...I won't come back."

John snorted, "Please tell me that you don't believe that, Damon."

"I don't remember asking you to contribute, John," Katherine hissed, glaring at him. But her expression was smooth when she turned back to them with a smile, "Damon knows he can trust my word."

"_Don't," _Bonnie mumbled. "_Damon...don't." _

Katherine gritted her teeth, "That witch is _really _annoying me." Suddenly, she looked at her watch with a tilt of her head. "Hmm...looks like she won't be a problem anymore in about...5 minutes."

Elena stood up nervously, "What are you talking about?"

"There's only so much a witch can take, Elena," Katherine explained patiently. "Bonnie's power is a huge part of who she is. That pendant is slowly draining her energy, and soon..well, there won't be anything left."

Elena shot a horrified look in Damon's direction, while Alaric stood up angrily. "Listen here, Katherine—"

"My terms are simple," Katherine interrupted. "Damon agrees to kill Tyler tonight, and I'll remove the pendant from Bonnie's neck. See? Everyone's happy."

"And you'll leave town," Alaric reminded her, narrowing his eyes. "Without ever coming back to disturb these people again."

"Yes."

"And you won't take anyone with you?" Alaric insisted, briefly glancing at Damon.

"I won't force anyone to come with me," Katherine smirked.

"Wait, why does he have to kill Tyler _tonight?" _Elena demanded. "The poor kid just found out his father died and the funeral is—"

"He's a werewolf!" Katherine said loudly. "What do you think will happen once the rest of the pack finds out the mayor is dead? They'll all come to Mystic Falls!"

"Pack?" Elena repeated incredulously. "You think that—"

"It's a deal," Damon said abruptly.


	13. Redemption

"And here's the gun," Katherine handed the object over to Damon. She peered out of the car window and sniffed delicately. "Smells like Tyler is at home. But so is his mother, so you'll have to Compel her to get out of the way. Or kill her too, whichever you prefer."

"She's on the Council. She wears vervain."

"Then I guess you'll have to kill her," Katherine responded carelessly. "Drink her, break her neck, whatever. Just make sure you use the gun for Tyler."

"Why?"

"It contains silver bullets," Katherine explained. "Werewolves can only be killed using silver."

"The mayor died in a fire," Damon pointed out.

"He was in his human form. I don't know if Tyler will transform if you attack him or not, but better safe than sorry."

"So nice of you to look out for me," Damon said sarcastically, getting out of the car.

Katherine and John followed suit. "We'll be in the woods back there," Katherine gestured to the area behind the Lockwood mansion. "Making sure you...finish the job."

Damon shrugged and began walking up the steps.

"DAMON!"

There was a screech of tires, and he heard Katherine swear.

"Elena, stop!" Stefan shouted. Bonnie and Alaric also got out of the car, but neither of them were fast enough to stop Elena.

Damon turned to see Elena running towards him. She leapt into his arms and shoved him backwards, away from the door. He lost his balance and they both fell down the porch steps, onto the ground. Elena landed on top of him, and Damon briefly wondered if that hadn't been her plan all along.

"There you go falling again," Damon grumbled, waiting for her to get up. "Any day now?" he added pointedly.

"Were you really going to kill Tyler?" Elena demanded, not moving. "Answer me."

Fully aware that every other vampire in their presence would be able to hear his answer, Damon didn't have a choice. "Of course I was. Why else would I be here?"

Elena stared back at him, disappointment etched on her face. "I thought you were trying to change, Damon."

Damon glanced to his right, where Katherine was watching the scene carefully. "Maybe I'm just a monster, Elena." He winked, and ran his hand down her side seductively. "Feels nice, doesn't it?" he murmured in her ear.

"What are you doing?" Stefan said angrily, and Damon smirked.

Elena hurriedly scrambled up, her face flushed. She didn't look at Damon as he sprung up to stand next to her. He casually threw an arm around her shoulders, "Ah, if it isn't the Scooby gang. How can I help you, little bro?"

"Don't give me that," Stefan snapped. "I come home—after being drugged with vervain, I might add—to have Elena tell me that you're on a mission to kill Tyler. This coming, of course, just one day after we have discussed how you're _not _to kill anyone else in this town. Don't you think you've done enough damage already?"

"For your information," Damon snarled, "I'm _saving _this town. Katherine has agreed to leave if I kill the big, bad wolf."

"Hello Stefan," Katherine sang out merrily. "It's rather rude of you to interrupt my plan like this, but I'll forgive you just this once."

Stefan's gaze roamed to where Katherine was standing with John. "My apologies," he said stiffly.

"Oh, so formal," Katherine laughed. "You'll always be that perfect gentleman I fell in love with 145 years ago."

"And you'll always be the conniving bitch who tortured my brother for a century and half," Stefan returned, crossing his arms.

Katherine's pleasantries evaporated on the spot. "How dare you speak to your maker that way," she hissed in a low voice. "If I wanted to, I could very _easily _kill you right now—" she paused. Suddenly, she blurred to the car. In the next instant, Bonnie was on the ground screaming. The pendant was back around her neck.

"Where was I?" Katherine asked, pretending to think. "Oh yes...well, as you can see, there are other ways of _sending a message," _she smiled. Damon's expression flickered.

"You see," John said loudly. "This is why I hate vampires so much, Elena. They're selfish, two-faced liars. All of them. In it for themselves. Just look at Isobel—"

"Don't speak ill of the dead, John," Katherine interrupted.

John paused, surprised. "You killed her already?"

"Yes."

Stefan narrowed his eyes at Katherine, but she didn't notice.

Elena gasped, falling to her knees. Damon looked stricken, and Alaric froze, his eyes widening with disbelief.

"Well." John apparently didn't have anything else to say. He glanced at Stefan, who was frowning. "Well," John began again, "I hope you'll understand why I had to use the Gilbert device, Elena. It was this town's only chance to get rid the vermin that have taken over..."

"You're one of us now," Katherine snapped. "Don't forget."

"How can I?" He stared at Elena briefly, and suddenly super sped over to Bonnie. He grabbed the chain around her neck and pulled, snapping the necklace in half.

"What are doing!" Katherine shrieked.

"What I have to do." Using his newfound vampire strength, he crushed the pendant in his hand, rendering it useless. The pieces fell to the floor.

Katherine stared at him, her eyes wide with fury. She vamped out, snarling, "You are _so _dead, Gilbert."

"That ship has sailed," John answered without flinching. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a stake. Still staring at Elena, he plunged the stake into his heart.

And so ended John Gilbert's existence.

* * *

***don't forget, stefan just talked to isobel, so katherine is lying. and yes, john is dead. for real. **


	14. Bloodline

"Thank you for bringing me home," Elena said stiffly as she slumped down tiredly onto her bed. "But you didn't have to follow me to my room."

Damon shrugged, leaning against the doorway. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

"I'm fine," she answered shortly. She couldn't wait for Damon to leave so she would finally be alone. She just wanted to give into the feeling of overwhelming despair looming over her and wallow in her own misery.

John Gilbert was dead.

Isobel was dead.

Katherine had effectively erased any bloodline Elena had ever had.

"You're handling the news awfully well," Damon commented, as though he knew what she was thinking. "I might be more upset if I learned that someone had just killed off both of my biological parents."

"No, you wouldn't. You wouldn't feel anything. You're a monster, remember?"

Damon didn't flinch. "Fair enough," he allowed. "But I'm looking at the bigger picture, Elena. Something that you and Stefan repeatedly fail to do."

"I don't care about the bigger picture!" Elena's hands clenched into fists around her bedspread. "I don't care if Tyler is a werewolf, and I don't care if his pack is going to infiltrate Mystic Falls! You don't even _know _him! How do you know he's evil? For all we know, he could be better than vampires! For all we know, he could take down Katherine—"

Damon stiffened, and Elena paused. "My god," she breathed. "_He could take down Katherine…_" She stared at Damon accusingly, "That's why Katherine wants him gone! Because a werewolf pack would be stronger than her..."

"Don't be ridiculous—"

"I'm not!" Elena sat up in bed. "You were just about to kill the _one person _that might stand a chance against Katherine!"

"That's not true," Damon argued, walking towards Elena.

"Get out."

He stopped, looking at Elena in disbelief. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Elena snapped. "Go back to Katherine, since you two clearly deserve each other!"

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Damon hissed in a low voice, his eyes glittering dangerously. "Katherine means nothing to me."

"Tell yourself that the next time you're kissing her," Elena shot back, now standing up. She pulled open the window and pointed, "Leave. Now."

Damon growled and blurred to where she was standing. In a single move, he slammed the window shut and whirled around to face her. She jumped in surprise as his face appeared inches away from her own. "For the last time," he snarled, "I did _not _kiss her!"

Elena raised her eyebrows skeptically and crossed her arms.

"Well, I did—but it wasn't…" Damon groaned in frustration. "I didn't mean to!"

Elena knew she was being childish and petulant, but her annoyance with the situation rose exponentially.

"Oh, what excuse will it be this time?" she said sarcastically. "Is it going to be the classic 'she kissed me first' line, or did you come up with some original material?"

Damon merely stared at her, so Elena continued. "_Or _are you going to tell me that you didn't _know _it was her? That maybe you thought she was…"

Elena caught the flash of vulnerability that hit Damon's face for an instant. Then it was gone.

She froze, her eyes widening. "Oh my god," she breathed, as a rush of memories came flooding back to her from last night.

_...it wasn't you...  
...__can't believe I thought…even for a second…and of course it had to be __her…_

"You thought it was me," Elena whispered slowly, her gaze rising to meet Damon's.

A mixture of emotions flitted across his face before he grinned, "Yeah, well. I guess I like to live in my own fantasy world every now and then."

Elena was stunned. "I'm—I'm sorry," she stammered awkwardly. "That I didn't believe you."

"Don't blame yourself, Elena," he said breezily. "I wouldn't have believed myself either." He winked, "Just don't tell Stefan about it. We wouldn't want him to go on one of his many freakouts, would we?"

Elena swallowed, looking down. "Yeah, of course," she agreed quickly. "I won't say anything."

"Great," Damon grinned again. But it looked forced...unreal. He nodded towards the window, "I guess I'll just show myself out, shall I?"

He had just reached the window when Elena asked abruptly, "Why did you do it?"

Damon grasped the edges of the window but didn't turn to face her, "Do what?" He drew in his breath sharply when he felt Elena's hand on his arm. He turned around reluctantly, gazing down at her. He leaned back, trying to put some distance between them, but he was—quite literally—backed into a corner.

"You weren't really going to kill Tyler," Elena said suddenly, gazing up at him. "You had a plan."

"I'm a Salvatore. What would I be if I didn't have a master diabolical plan?" Damon cocked an eyebrow at her inquiringly, "What made you change your mind?"

She gazed at him for several moments, "I decided to look at the bigger picture."

Her hand was still resting on his arm, as though she had forgotten it was there. Damon took another step towards her, leaving barely an inch between them. "Elena..."

"ELENA!" Jenna burst into the room, her eyes frantic.

Elena felt a whoosh of air as Damon leapt lightly out of the window, disappearing. She took a deep breath, willing herself not to be annoyed. "Aunt Jenna? What's going on?"

"It's Jeremy...he's—he's gone!"

* * *

***oh Jenna, forever ruining Delena moments :P**


	15. Gone

**A/N: **yay we finally reached 200 reviews! i'm so happy you guys are enjoying this story...to say thank you, i made this chapter a little bit longer than the others :)

* * *

It was Sunday evening, and there still had been no word from Jeremy.

Elena had been left to 'watch over the phone' while Jenna was busy scouring Mystic Falls with Alaric and the sheriff.

The doorbell rang at exactly 6 PM, and Elena opened the door immediately, knowing who it would be.

"Would it kill you to look through the peephole?" Damon grumbled, leading the way in.

Stefan walked in after him, and kissed Elena briefly. "Hey," Elena smiled, but subtly pulled away when she noticed Damon's expression. "Thanks for coming."

"I'm always happy to help out my best friend," Bonnie said with a smile.

Elena nodded and let Bonnie walk ahead of her, back into the living room. "And how do you know I didn't look through the peephole?" she said to Damon belligerently.

He rolled his eyes, "I would have felt it. Obviously."

"Felt—"

"Okay, so I figured we'd do both spells while I'm here," Bonnie announced, peering at Elena to see if that was okay. "The locator spell is a fairly easy one, so it shouldn't use up a lot of my power."

"How hard is the uninvitation spell?" Elena shifted guiltily. "I mean, I don't want you to do something that's too advanced or whatever…We can find another way, if it's necessary."

"No," Bonnie disagreed. "There's no other way to uninvite a vampire, and we don't exactly know any other witches."

Elena glanced at Damon, but he shook his head. "I know of some witches that are still alive, but I have no idea where they might be."

"Alright so how does the locator spell work?" Stefan asked, pulling a map out of his leather jacket. "I brought a map of Mystic Falls and a few of the surrounding areas. Hopefully he hasn't wandered too far off."

"Is that what you think?" Elena frowned. "That he _wandered _off?"

"What do you think?" Damon intervened before Stefan could answer. "That Katherine took him?"

"It's a possibility," Elena replied calmly. "We need to look at all the options."

"Well, well. Would you look at that?" Damon crowed, "Our little Elena is _looking at the bigger picture." _

Elena flushed, remembering their conversation from the previous night. She glanced up to see Stefan staring at her strangely. "Anyway," she coughed, ignoring Damon's smirk, "I don't think Katherine would take him too far away either, so that map should be fine." She turned to Bonnie expectantly, "So how does this work?"

"I just need something that belongs to Jeremy. Anything will be fine," Bonnie explained. "So the spell can trace back to him."

"Okay," Elena shrugged. "I'll go get something from his room."

The minute she left, Stefan turned to Damon suspiciously. "What's going on between you two?"

Damon grinned, stretching backwards. "Nothing to worry your broody little head about, little brother."

"I'm warning you—"

"Yeah, yeah, history will not be repeating itself," Damon replied in a perfect imitation of Stefan's voice. "I got the memo."

Bonnie was watching this exchange, looking slightly amused. "Just so you know, Elena loves Stefan," she said to Damon pointedly. "No matter how many times you save her life, she'll never think of you as more than a—"

"Will this do?" Elena asked, hanging over the staircase with one of Jeremy's shirts. "I just picked the first thing off the floor I could find. It's a mess in there."

"Yeah, that's fine," Bonnie called back, lowering her eyes back to Damon. His face was expressionless, but he looked distinctly angry.

Elena tossed the shirt on floor in their midst, and sat back down so they were sitting in a semi-circle. "Alright, ready?" she glanced around the group, her gaze lingering on Damon. In the two minutes she had been gone, his expression had changed from relaxed to uptight, and tense. "Is everything okay?"

"It's fine," Bonnie reached out for the shirt and placed her hands over it. She closed her eyes, and breathed, _"Invenio erus." _Her hands glowed briefly above the shirt, emitting a soft light. Her eyes still closed, she clasped her hands over a necklace she had brought.

The small jewel on the necklace emitted a golden hue, and she gently dangled it over the map. Her eyes remained closed as she moved the necklace in a circle.

After several moments, the necklace suddenly landed on a spot on the map.

Elena, Stefan, and Damon all leaned forward to peer at it. "Still in Mystic Falls," Elena said with relief.

Bonnie opened her eyes, and glanced down at the map. "That's good. Should we go get him?"

"Not all of us," Damon interjected. "Let's get this uninvitation spell done. The sooner Katherine is blocked from this house, the better."

"Well, Elena needs to be here since I need an occupant of the house present when I do the spell," Bonnie replied, glancing between the Salvatore brothers. "So, I guess one of you can go get Jeremy."

"I'll do it," Damon and Stefan announced at the same time, then proceeded to glare at each other.

"No, you should be with your girlfriend," Damon snapped. "I'll be the _friend _and go." He turned to Bonnie as he said the last part of this sentence and raised his eyebrows. _Happy now? _

"Sounds like a plan," Bonnie returned coolly, causing Elena to frown in confusion.

"No," Stefan interrupted. "Damon should be here in case...the spell doesn't go as planned." He got up, pulling on his jacket and grabbing the map. "Damon's blood is stronger, not only because he's slightly older but also because he drinks human blood. If the spell goes wrong, and Bonnie needs...well, Damon is the better choice to stay behind."

Bonnie sighed and nodded briefly, accepting Stefan's logic. "Be careful," Elena said, and Stefan smiled at her before silently shutting the door behind him. Elena turned back to see Damon and Bonnie scowling at each other. "Okay guys, what's going on? I thought you were becoming friends?"

"Oh yes," Damon said loudly, "I'm just everybody's friend, aren't I?"

Bonnie breathed out, counting to ten. "Let's just get this spell done, shall we?" Damon and Elena moved closer to her, completing the circle. Bonnie closed her eyes, noticing the increasing darkness in the house. "We need to hold hands," she instructed softly.

She heard Damon mutter something under his breath, but he nevertheless lightly grasped her hand. Bonnie opened her eyes a fraction to see Damon and Elena stare at each other briefly before clasping hands. Elena looked completely at ease, but Damon was sitting tensely, clearly uncomfortable.

"Here goes nothing," Bonnie muttered as she began to chant the words to the spell.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''

Stefan held the map out in front of him as he slowly made his way to the location it was directing him to.

He frowned as he arrived at the destination. _What on earth was he doing here? _

The spell had led him straight to the building where all the tomb vampires had been burned alive.

_There was no way Jeremy could be here...right? _

_

* * *

_***any guesses why the spell led him there? it's a tough one, i'll admit ;)**


	16. Missing

**A/N: **I have a feeling Delena fans will be amused by the..circumstances our characters find themselves in this chapter ;)

* * *

Bonnie opened her eyes, her shoulders shifting tiredly. She released Damon and Elena's hands from her grip and pointed a finger at the front door.

As they watched, a golden light ran along the edges of the doorway before there was a slight squelching noise and the light disappeared with a small _pop! _

"It's done," Bonnie's body sagged with the expended effort, and Elena caught her arm worriedly.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Bonnie struggled to stand up and was surprised when Damon caught her other arm. He led her to the sofa and watched as she slowly sat down.

Elena exchanged a concerned glance with Damon.

"I'm fine," Bonnie repeated, trying to smile. "That just took…a lot of power. I just need to rest."

"Well, you're welcome to stay here," Elena fluttered anxiously over her, and placed a pillow by her side. "Um, so how do we know if the spell worked?"

"I don't really think we can test it out," Damon answered with a wry smile. "Not until Katherine tries to get in here again."

"And when do you think that'll be?" Elena asked sharply.

"How would I know?" Damon shrugged. "She's probably still pissed at me for not killing Tyler."

"And for losing John Gilbert," Bonnie added, her voice faint.

"I wonder what she's been up to…" Elena mused, biting her lip. "She's been awfully quiet for someone hell-bent on revenge."

"That only means she's thinking of a new plan," Damon muttered back. He looked at his cell phone and tapped his foot impatiently. Still no message from Stefan…"I wonder what—"

"Shh," Elena whispered, nodding to Bonnie who appeared to have fallen asleep. She gestured for Damon to follow her upstairs.

Damon smirked once they had reached her doorway, "Ah, the amount of time I spend in your bedroom…"

"Quit joking around," Elena said impatiently, pulling him in and shutting the door quietly.

Damon was too busy checking his cell phone again to immediately respond with a clever comeback.

"Worried about that brother of yours that you claim to despise?" Elena asked knowingly.

"Who's worried?"

"_You," _Elena teased, touching his chest lightly with her index finger to emphasize her point.

Damon grinned and grabbed her hand, easily spinning her around and catching her in his arms briefly. "And _you, _my dear Elena, aren't nearly worried enough…"

"He hasn't been gone that long," Elena replied, spinning herself out of his grasp before taking a seat comfortably on her bed. "He's probably just trying to convince Jeremy to come back home or something."

Damon didn't reply, folding his arms as he walked over to the window and peered into the darkness.

"So, do you think the spell worked?" Elena asked, her voice hesitant.

"Like I said, we can't test it out. The spell sounded legit, and Bonnie was certainly exhausted enough to prove it took a lot of power out of her…" Damon turned back to look out the window. _Where was Stefan?_

Elena cleared her throat, "Um, so I know that you Salvatores have some like unspoken rule about not mentioning these things, but about what we discussed last night—"

"Leave it alone, Elena."

"I was just...wondering what, um, led to the...kiss?"

"Why does that matter?" Damon asked, surprised.

Elena shrugged, trying to sound casual. "I mean, you must have said something to me...well, _her..._that led to..._that." _

Damon considered her for a second before answering, "I don't remember. Must have been good though."

"Why won't you tell me? It's not like it's some big secret! If you were willing to tell me before, then I don't see what the big deal is—"

At that moment, Damon's phone beeped. "Finally..."

**FROM STEFAN:**

**jeremy isn't here. spell didn't work. check the shirt.**

Damon frowned, "He says that he doesn't think it's Jeremy's shirt."

"No, Jeremy wears that shirt all the time," Elena argued, getting up. "Why? What happened?"

**FROM DAMON:**

**elena says it's definitely the shirt. where are you? **

Within a minute, Damon got the reply text. "Stefan says that he's at the building where John Gilbert tried to burn all the tomb vampires on Founder's Day..."

Elena looked confused, and left the room. She came back in a second holding Jeremy's shirt. "It's his, I know it is," she insisted, tossing it to Damon.

Damon frowned and turned the shirt over in his hands. "It has his scent on it," Damon agreed, "I wonder why the spell didn't..." he paused, catching another scent on the shirt.

Blood.

His nostrils flared as he narrowed his eyes, trying to see where it was. After several moments, he found a drop of blood smeared on the sleeve. He showed it to Elena, who frowned at him questioningly. "What is it?"

"Not Jeremy's blood," Damon muttered thoughtfully, trying to remember whose scent it was. It was definitely familiar...

He closed his eyes, putting together the clues in his head: _John Gilbert + burning building + tomb vampires = Jeremy? _Now, what was the common factor? "I got it!" he said suddenly, causing Elena to jump in alarm. "Anna! It's Anna's blood!"

"Why would—"

"I don't know," Damon said impatiently, leading the way back downstairs. "But we need to redo the spell."

"Wait," Elena whispered, just before Damon had reached Bonnie. "Let her rest. She's exhausted."

Damon hesitated, but nodded reluctantly. "Alright," he said quietly. "Call me when she wakes up. I'll go tell Stefan the news, and then the two of us will go around Mystic Falls to see if we catch any leads. Okay?"

Elena nodded, walking with him to the door. She pulled it open for him and took a step back in surprise when she saw Stefan standing there, his hand raised to the doorbell.

"Impeccable timing, little bro," Damon grinned. "Let's go, I'll tell you the story on the way—" He stopped, shocked, when he wasn't able to walk through the doorway.

"Damon?"

He frowned in concentration, trying with all his might to walk through. An invisible force suddenly pushed at him, and he stumbled backwards. "What the...? He looked between Elena and Stefan, "What's going on?"

Stefan stared down at him, his brow furrowed. "That's strange. The spell must have backfired..." He paused, tilting his head. "I wonder..." He took a step forward, trying to come into the house.

It didn't work.

Elena watched, horrified, as Stefan was rebuffed by an invisible barrier and he was forced backwards several feet. "I can fix this," she said quickly. "Stefan, I invite you in."

He tried to walk in again, but was again stopped. He shook his head, "It's not working. You have to get Bonnie to fix the spell. Until she does, I can't come inside and Damon can't leave."

"Okay," Elena said hurriedly. "Let me just wake her up—" she froze, clutching Damon's arm.

Damon turned around to see what was wrong.

Bonnie was gone.


	17. Trapped

Bonnie slowly opened her eyes, blinking several times at the unfamiliar surroundings. She sat up and looked behind her to see a large window that told her it was clearly the middle of the night.

A fireplace crackled merrily in front of her, shadowing the living room in a dim light. Even in the semi-darkness, Bonnie could tell she was in a very expensive, elaborately decorated house.

Her heart pounding in fear, she looked around the room for the way out. Her gaze landed on the front door, and Bonnie quietly began to get up.

Someone flipped on the light switch.

Bonnie's eyes widened as she looked around the room again. Definitely a rich person's house.

"You're awake."

Bonnie's mind felt sluggish as she looked at the person in front of her, "Elena?"

"Try again, sweetie."

She sank back down on the sofa, feeling more tired than ever. "Katherine."

"Yes," Katherine confirmed, her eyes twinkling. "How are you feeling?"

"Why do you care?"

"I don't," Katherine shrugged, taking a seat across from Bonnie. "It's your own fault for attempting a spell _way _out of your league."

"…the spell didn't work?" Bonnie's heart sank. "Where are we?"

"Nice place, isn't it?" Katherine smiled luxuriously, "Isobel was staying here when she was in town recently. I figured we might as well use it since no one else is."

"_We? _Who else is here?"

Katherine grinned, "Oh Jeremy! Come down here, please."

Bonnie's mouth dropped open as Jeremy came into the living room. He took a seat next to Katherine, not saying anything. Bonnie squinted at him, taking in his unfocused gaze and blank expression.

"What is _he _doing here?"

"You asked me if your little spell worked," Katherine began, her voice unpleasant. "Well it did…and it didn't."

"What do you mean?"

"You successfully locked me out of the Gilbert household, so to speak…but you also locked out _any _vampire. Including Stefan."

Bonnie's eyes widened.

"Damon was already in the house, as I'm sure you remember. So now he can't leave. Not until you fix your spell, anyway," She sighed, not looking happy. "So I had to use Jeremy to get to you."

"You—you're the one who kidnapped Jeremy? Last night?"

"I figured he would come in handy as leverage," Katherine grinned. "It was quite easy to Compel him."

Bonnie looked down at Jeremy's wrist, which was void of the vervain-filled bracelet Elena had given him.

"He had already taken the bracelet off when I found him," Katherine said, noticing Bonnie's pointed gaze. "Apparently he's quite upset at our dear Elena for lying to him," Katherine rolled her eyes. "I never had much patience for the young and hopeless."

"So…Jeremy just walked right in and carried me away _while _Elena and Damon were in the house?" Bonnie demanded, not understanding how this could have happened.

"They were a little preoccupied with your spell gone wrong to notice."

Bonnie swallowed, "So why am I here?"

Katherine nodded approvingly, "Getting right to business I see. Very good. Well, Bonnie, I want you to do something for me…"

* * *

"We'll try again tomorrow morning," Sheriff Forbes said sympathetically as she pulled her squad car up in front of the Gilbert house. "Alaric, do you want me to drop you off at your house?"

"No, I'm good," Alaric smiled, helping Jenna out. "We'll see you tomorrow morning."

Jenna sighed tiredly, squinting at her watch in the darkness. "It's after midnight, Alaric. You can just crash here for the night so we can get an early start in the morning." She quietly opened the front door and stopped short in surprise to see all the lights on, and Elena sitting on the sofa. "Honey, you're still awake?"

Elena tried to smile, "I couldn't sleep. No luck, huh?"

"We're going to look again in the morning. Is it okay with you if Alaric crashes on the couch?"

"Yeah, of course," Elena jumped up. "How about I go make you guys some tea?"

"Thanks, Elena...I'll go get some sheets and things from upstairs."

The minute she was out of hearing range, Alaric followed Elena into the kitchen. "So? How did the spell go?"

Elena glanced at the ceiling subconsciously. "It was an unqualified disaster," she whispered, quickly telling Alaric what had happened.

Alaric stared blankly at her when she was done. "Damon is _here? _Where? In your room?" He asked, looking vaguely disapproving.

"Don't tell my aunt," she said hurriedly. "Anyway, I should go before he starts snooping in my diary or something. Good night!"

Alaric stared after her, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

* * *

Elena cautiously opened the door to her room, relieved to see Damon was still in the same place she had left him.

He grinned from his lounging position on her bed when she walked in. He held up both his hands and turned them over, "See, I'm not reading your diary.."

"You heard everything I said to Alaric?"

"Super-hearing, remember?"

Elena sighed, resigned as she sat down next to Damon. She felt him stiffen slightly when her shoulder brushed his, but he relaxed almost immediately. "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll find both of them soon," he said quietly, correctly interpreting her silence.

"I hope so," Elena drew her knees up to her chin, and rested her head on them tiredly. She twitched slightly in surprise when she felt Damon's arm around her shoulders. He pulled at her gently so she shifted closer to his side. Elena swallowed, feeling unaccountably nervous as she asked again. "Will you tell me now?"

"Tell you what?"

"What you said to Katherine before you kissed her."

Damon groaned, removing his arm from her shoulders. "Why is this important to you, Elena? You have so many other things to worry about...For example, you could worry about the fact that Alaric _isn't _sleeping on the couch tonight." He waggled his eyebrows at Elena, grinning when she made a face.

She smacked his arm lightly, her lips curving into a smile when he made a wounded expression. "As if you could feel that," she dismissed.

"Obviously not," he teased. "You hit like a girl."

Elena shoved him slightly harder, laughing when he automatically moved to get out of the way. "I thought it didn't hurt," she grinned.

Damon smirked at her, but his expression sobered slightly when he opened his mouth to speak. "I told her...that I wanted to thank _you_. For..."

Elena sat utterly still, leaning forward curiously. _Finally, she was getting some answers. _"For what?" she prodded softly. "Thank me for what?"

He met her gaze then, several emotions flickering on his face. "For deciding I was worth saving."

Elena nodded, realizing he was waiting for her reaction. She gently took one of his hands within her own, smiling at the look of surprise on his face. "I guess I can understand why I...I mean, why _she—_would kiss you after that. What did she say?"

Damon looked down at their entwined hands, "She said 'you're welcome'."

Elena released his hand then, recognizing that the gesture was somehow intimate. She slid under her covers, aware that he hadn't moved. "Well, that makes one difference," she murmured sleepily, turning her body so she wasn't facing him. "I would have said there was no need to thank me. Because you _are _worth saving."

Damon watched as she immediately drifted off.

Very gently, he leaned down and brushed a kiss on her cheek. "Thank you."


	18. Revelations

Elena woke up Monday morning feeling incredibly well rested. She turned around and was surprised to see that Damon wasn't there.

Slightly worried, she quickly showered and got dressed for school. She hurried down the stairs and stopped short when she saw Jenna, Alaric, and Damon eating breakfast together.

"Good morning, Elena," Damon winked at her. "And how _are_ you this morning?"

"Damon just dropped by to see how the search for Jeremy was going," Jenna said in a tight voice, obviously torn between her disapproval of Damon and her gratitude at his concern for Jeremy.

Elena nodded uncomfortably, when suddenly Damon thrust a cup at her. "I made your coffee for you," he grinned. "Just the way you like it."

"Oh…" Elena took it reluctantly, shooting a nervous glance at Jenna. "Thanks." She cleared her throat, "I thought you guys were going to search for Jeremy early this morning? I can skip school if you have to work—"

"School is cancelled," Alaric interrupted. "Mrs. Lockwood called this morning. Apparently they're holding the funeral this afternoon, and then there's a town meeting."

"A town meeting?" Elena frowned. "You mean a Council meeting?"

"No," Jenna rolled her eyes. "A _town _meeting. Right after the funeral since everyone will be there anyway."

"Did something happen?"

At that moment, the doorbell rang.

"That must be the sheriff," Jenna said, hopping up. "She said she'd help us look for Jeremy…"

Alaric opened the door, and sure enough, Sheriff Forbes was standing there. She was bearing the expression of one who has bad news.

"Liz?" Jenna frowned, "Is everything alright?"

She scratched her head, "Yeah. I just stopped by the Salvatore house but Stefan told me Damon was here...Do you mind if I have a quick word with him? You and Alaric can go wait by the car...I'll be out in a minute."

Jenna and Alaric both looked at Damon questioningly, but he looked confused. "Alright," Jenna agreed, shooting a look at Elena. "We'll be back in time for the funeral. Be safe."

"Um..I'll just go wait upstairs then," Elena said slowly, noticing the sheriff's pointed look.

"Thanks."

Elena quickly walked up the stairs, but paused halfway so she could listen to what the sheriff had to say to Damon. She saw Damon's gaze flick in her direction, and knew that he had realized she was listening.

"What can I help you with, Sheriff?" he asked, his voice raised slightly for Elena's benefit. "Nothing wrong, I hope?"

"It's about John Gilbert," Liz said abruptly. "Have you seen him around lately?"

Damon hesitated, obviously caught off guard. "Why do you ask?"

"The DNA results from the blood found on the kitchen floor after Founder's Day just came in," the sheriff said carefully. "It was a direct match with John's."

"Oh. I see."

"There was _a lot _of blood, Damon," the sheriff stressed. "But the next day he was perfectly fine, not a scratch on him!"

"What are you saying?" Damon asked cautiously.

"There's something _not right _with this whole thing," Liz sighed. "There was another animal attack in the woods last night. Two more dead."

"Really?" Now Damon was interested. "Drained of blood?"

"Surprisingly, no. Just mauled..." She shook her head, "I can't keep a lid on the Council anymore. We're sending out a hunting party tonight. I was hoping you could join us?"

Damon shifted, "I would love to. If, for some reason, I can't make it...then I'm sure Alaric or my brother would also like to join."

Sheriff Forbes nodded heavily, "Thanks for your help, Damon. It's good to know there are some trustworthy people left in Mystic Falls..."

* * *

"As I'm sure many of you agree, Mystic Falls has been terrorized in the recent months by everything from a vicious animal in the woods to the unsightly fire that killed my husband…"

Elena looked around the cemetery, watching as everyone stared up at Mrs. Lockwood in both sympathy and agreement.

Tyler was sitting with his head in his hands in the front row.

"My husband died doing his best to protect this town, and my only hope is that his wishes are carried out to the best of my extent."

She stepped down from the podium, standing off to the side while Sheriff Forbes took her place. "I would like to announce at this time that Mrs. Lockwood will be acting as interim mayor until the next election."

There was some scattered applause, and Elena noticed Tyler look up abruptly, his expression confused.

Suddenly, someone tapped her shoulder.

"I'm here."

Stefan, Alaric, Elena, and Jenna whirled around in shock at the sound of Jeremy's voice. "Sorry I'm late," he said in a monotone voice.

"You're okay!" Jenna exclaimed, "Where have you been? We've been looking all over for you!"

Jeremy shrugged, "Just around. I needed a break."

"I'm glad you're back..but we'll discuss this later," Jenna said sternly.

Stefan narrowed his eyes, and turned his head to scan the trees behind them. Just as he had suspected, Katherine waved at him. Stefan shook his head, and Katherine blew him a kiss before pointing at herself and then Jeremy. _I'll be watching…_

Jenna dragged Alaric away to go pay their condolences to Mrs. Lockwood, and Elena grasped her brother's shoulders fearfully. "Jer? Is it really you?"

"He's being Compelled," Stefan interrupted. "I just saw Katherine back there in the woods. She's watching us all."

Elena looked behind her, but couldn't see anything. "Let's just get him out of here—"

"Elena," Jeremy's eyes suddenly glazed over, becoming unfocused. "And Stefan. I have a message to you from Katherine."

Stefan folded his arms, "What is it?"

"She says that I am only here because she wants to keep up appearances. However, if you try to keep me from going back to her after the funeral, then she will kill Bonnie."

"Oh god, she _does _have Bonnie!"

Stefan gritted his teeth, "What does she want?"

Jeremy continued as though Stefan hadn't spoken. "Katherine is aware of the spell Bonnie cast. She knows Damon cannot leave the house, and she knows Stefan cannot enter. She wishes Stefan to meet her tonight to discuss the prior deal."

"Deal?"

"Concerning Tyler's existence." Jeremy abruptly stopped talking, and then disappeared into the crowd.

* * *

Damon was pacing back and forth when Elena arrived back in her room. "Hey," she said timidly, noticing he looked angry. "Getting restless?"

"My brother," he seethed, "is a complete moron. I can't believe he's going to meet Katherine tonight."

Elena sighed, "At least we know Jeremy is okay. So far. But this is the only way we can find out what Katherine wants."

"What about the hunting party tonight?"

"Alaric is going with them. What do you think they'll find? You don't think the animal in the woods is Tyler, do you?"

"I don't know," he answered shortly.

She eyed him, surprised that he was acting so tense and worried. "Hey, I'm the worrier in this relationship, remember?" she joked.

Damon reluctantly grinned at her. He plopped down on the bed next to her, and placed a hand over his heart. "Ah, so she finally admits we have a relationship..."

Elena rolled her eyes at him, but she smiled at having successfully taken his mind off of Stefan and Katherine. "By the way," she said suddenly, remembering. "Thank you. For deciding to tell me...last night. I'm glad I know what happened now."

He met her gaze almost warily, "You didn't tell Stefan, did you?"

"As if," Elena laughed. "He would totally flip. Even though it wasn't actually me." She paused and then thought about it, "Though I guess it _could _have been."

Damon raised his eyebrows, effectively surprised. "Did I just hear that right? Are you telling me that, had it actually been _you..._the same scenario would have played out?"

Elena shrugged, glancing at Damon from through lowered eyelids. "Maybe..."


	19. Reverse

"You want me to release Bonnie?" Katherine asked, her voice dripping with incredulity.

"And Jeremy," Stefan added, leaning casually back against his sofa and spreading his arms out lazily. When trying to bargain with Katherine, it was best to operate under a '_What would Damon do?' _philosophy.

Katherine looked on the verge of throwing a fit. She was seated directly opposite him, with Bonnie and Jeremy on either side of her. "May I remind you that _I _hold all the cards here?" she snapped.

"Actually, I don't think you do," Stefan smiled pleasantly at her. "See, you want me to kill Tyler. So, the deal is that you release the two of them. Then we'll talk."

Bonnie widened her eyes at Stefan, looking impressed at his attitude.

"No deal. If I release Bonnie, then she'll go reverse the spell on the Gilbert house. And obviously I'm not going to release Jeremy," Katherine grinned. "He's an awfully good bargaining chip."

Stefan was beginning to get desperate. His expression must have shown on his face, because Katherine raised her eyebrows. "You're not worried about Damon being locked up with your little girlfriend, are you?"

"No."

"Well that's too bad. See, if I were you, I _would _be worried. Everyday, they grow closer and closer..."

"I trust Elena," Stefan snapped, his nerves on edge. "She isn't _anything _like you!"

"She's more like me than you would be expect," Katherine leaned forward, her mouth curving into a mischievous smile. "In the short time I've been watching her, I can _already _sense her connection to Damon...she's drawn to him, in more ways than you will ever understand..."

Stefan felt a chill run through him, and he glanced at Bonnie. She didn't look entirely surprised with what Katherine was saying, and she met his gaze worriedly.

"You're wrong. Elena loves me. Damon just—"

"Loves _her," _Katherine rolled her eyes. "I didn't need Isobel to tell me that. I could see it for myself. Especially after he kissed me on Founder's Day, thinking I was her..."

Bonnie gasped, and Stefan froze, "What?"

* * *

Elena was sitting stiffly in her living room, feeling unaccountably nervous as she waited for Stefan to call her back with news about how his meeting with Katherine had gone.

The hunting party in the woods was well under way, and Alaric had promised to let them know if they found anything...supernatural.

"Who's the worried one now?" Damon's voice whispered in her ear, and she jumped, startled.

"Don't _do _that!"

"Do what?" he asked innocently, plopping down next to her on the sofa. "Waiting for my dear brother's phone call?"

Elena nodded, crossing her arms. She felt vaguely uncomfortable in Damon's presence now, ever since she had admitted that she _might _have kissed him back after his little speech on her porch. Even now, she didn't know if she had meant what she said or she was just trying to make him feel better about the whole situation.

In either case, it was awkward.

As usual, Damon seemed to pick up on her mood. "I hope you're not getting sick of me already," he stretched luxuriously on the sofa, grinning at her. "It's only been two days, after all."

"I know," Elena said quickly, "But you must be getting bored, being cooped up in here all day. With me."

Damon regarded her for a moment, the corner of his mouth quirking up into an easy smile. "I've told you before...you're not the _worst _company in the world, Elena."

"Well for the record...neither are you," Elena smiled slightly, to show that she actually meant it.

"Believe me, _I know," _Damon winked at her.

Elena laughed, throwing a pillow at him. "God, you're so full of yourself!"

Damon caught the pillow easily, grinning. "You know you love it."

Elena shook her head, rolling her eyes. She opened her mouth to reply, when suddenly Damon stood up. All traces of good humor had vanished from his face.

"What's—?"

"Knock, knock!" a voice sang out.

Elena didn't even have time to react before her door was viciously kicked open.

Katherine stood at the foremost of the group, a wide smile on her face. She stepped carefully over the threshold, entering Elena's home.

"I'm sorry!" Bonnie said miserably as she followed Katherine in. "But she Compelled Jeremy to drink her blood, and she said that if I didn't undo the spell then she would turn him into a vampire—"

Damon abruptly moved forward so that he was standing in front of Elena. He didn't relax his stance, still ready to attack.

Katherine smirked and looked over at Stefan, to see if he had noticed Damon's protective gesture.

"It's okay," Elena said tightly, "Thank you for looking out for Jeremy."

Stefan walked in slowly, his jaw clenching.

Elena frowned, "Stefan? What's wrong?"

He shook his once, "Nothing. It's not important right now."

"He's just upset because I told him about Damon kissing me," Katherine interrupted airily.

Elena thought this was a strange way of wording it, but Stefan didn't correct her. Damon looked momentarily confused, looking between Stefan and Katherine with a questioning look on his face.

Suddenly, Damon's phone rang. He looked around the room again, as though wondering who _else _would possibly be calling him. "Ah, it's my favorite history teacher," he grinned. "Rick! How's the hunt going?"

"What? How many werewolves? Rick, I can barely hear you—hello? Wait, what? You're running from...hello?"

Katherine looked furious. "See?" she hissed, "He's already brought his pack to Mystic Falls! I _told _you to stop him before it was too late and now—"

The front door was viciously kicked open for the second time that night.

Damon dropped his phone in shock, and it fell with a loud thud.

Katherine backed away, her eyes wide.

Stefan vamped out, moving in front of Elena and crouching in an attacking position.

But Bonnie moved towards the door, smiling gratefully, "I'm so glad you're finally here."

* * *

***any guesses? =P**


	20. Sacrifice

Elena gaped at the group of people framing her doorway. Tyler stood at the forefront, his arms crossed. Surrounding him were five other men, all of the same clean-cut, square-jawed variety. They bore a striking resemblance to Tyler.

Silhouetted against the darkness behind them, the group stood somehow impressively and menacingly.

It was no wonder that Katherine had backed away.

Bonnie reached the door and extended a hand to Tyler, who looked bemused. He hesitantly let her pull him into the house, his eyes darting around the Gilbert living room questioningly. The rest of the group (presumably the "pack") followed him in.

Elena studied the other five men carefully, noting that their ages varied noticeably. Tyler was clearly the youngest, though there were two other men that could have passed for their early-twenties. The oldest stood near the back, most likely in his late thirties.

Tyler opened his mouth to speak, apparently couldn't think of anything to say, and shut it again.

"I guess I should explain," Bonnie offered, looking slightly nervous. "I'm a witch."

None of the werewolves looked surprised, except for Tyler.

"Yes, we know," one of the younger men answered drily. "Us werewolves can sense that kind of thing." He then pointed at Katherine, Stefan, and Damon individually, "And you three are vampires."

"Those two there are the Salvatore brothers," the oldest in the group suddenly spoke up, his voice rough. "And that other vamp is Katherine Pierce."

Katherine frowned, looking confused. Damon and Stefan exchanged a bewildered look.

Tyler looked around the room, clearly struggling to understand what was happening.

Damon said sharply, "Since you seem to know who we are, I think it's only fair we have the same advantage."

"I'm Tyler's uncle," the man answered shortly. "Marvin Lockwood."

"And what are you doing here?"

Marvin shrugged with a slight jerk of his shoulders, "The house _called _to us. I'm guessing it had something to do with the witch..."

"Yes," Bonnie replied tentatively. "When I was removing the uninvitation spell from the house, I added in another spell...It acts as sort of a signal to call the supernatural towards this house. I figured there were no other vampires around, so the only other things around were the werewolves..."

Stefan shifted suddenly, his expression carefully blank. "Your spell would call _all _the supernatural creatures in the area?"

Bonnie nodded with a frown, "Yes, why?"

"Why exactly did you call us here?" Marvin suddenly demanded. "We were in the middle of training Tyler, and your little spell was a rather inconvenient interruption..."

"Training?" Damon scoffed, "So have you been teaching him to _not _leave dead bodies lying around Mystic Falls? Because there's a hunting party going on in the woods right now for the _animal _that's causing all these attacks.."

"Hey, we're not the ones leaving the dead bodies!" Marvin snapped with a growl, "We're being set up!" He paused and then glared, "Most likely by you three bloodsuckers!"

"No, no," Bonnie said quickly, "Stefan and Damon are on our side."

Damon raised his eyebrows, but didn't comment.

Stefan slowly turned to look at Katherine, his eyes narrowing. "It was you? You were the one leaving all the dead bodies?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she replied unconvincingly.

"WHY DID YOU COME BACK?" Stefan suddenly roared, and Elena jumped backwards in alarm. _"Was stopping the werewolves really such a big deal to you! ? Was killing Tyler really going to solve all your problems! ?_"

Tyler's jaw dropped open, and the rest of the pack edged closer around him, clearly in protective mode.

Katherine glared at Stefan, her expression haughty.

Stefan blurred, slamming Katherine against the wall. She laughed as his fingers tightened around her throat, clearly not feeling any pain. "The tomb vampires are _gone," _Stefan hissed, vamping out. "You made sure the job got done...why did you _really _come back?"

Katherine didn't attempt to get herself out of Stefan's death grip, even though she easily could have. Instead, her eyes darkened and she let her fangs protrude threateningly. "I already told you that I came back to punish John and Isobel," she let her fingers crawl up his chest until they rested lightly at his throat as a warning. "They betrayed me by plotting to kill you and Damon, and for that, they deserved to die."

Stefan didn't flinch as her fingers curled around his throat. "The one good thing John Gilbert ever did," he spat, "In betraying you, he finally found his redemption. Even in death..."

"Redemption!" Katherine laughed, her fingers tightening slightly.

"And you're still pretending to care?" Stefan pressed. "Even after all these years? Even after you _knew _Damon had gone crazy trying to free you from your supposed captivity in the tomb?"

Damon leaned forward slightly at that, and Elena was dismayed when she saw the curiosity glinting in his eyes.

"I had my reasons for staying away," Katherine answered delicately. She dropped her hand from Stefan's throat, smiling when he also released his grip. "I _never _wanted either of you dead," she purred, letting her hand rest on his chest. "That's why I offered my blood to _both _of you. I knew the day would come when you would be forced to face death, and I wanted you to have a choice."

"Offered?" Stefan repeated with a laugh that sounded nothing like him. "You Compelled me, Katherine!" He forcibly flung her hand away from his body, "And for that, I will _never _forgive you!"

"I might have Compelled you," Katherine agreed, her gaze growing cold. "But I didn't force you to choose this life. You made that decision on your own."

Stefan flinched, his jaw tightening. "I made the wrong choice. And I forced Damon to choose wrong with me."

Damon started to say something, but Katherine cut him off. "Whether you made the wrong choice or not doesn't matter. 145 years later and you're both still here, so I'm assuming you'd like to continue this pseudo-life that _I _helped you create…"

"No one is denying your part in our existence," Stefan growled.

"The three of us will always be connected," Katherine said tantalizingly, "You may blame me for what you've become, but you can _never _hate me..."

"Wanna bet?" Damon finally spoke, his sarcasm in full swing. "Am I the only one who's noticed that you've failed to answer the original question?_"_

_"_I noticed," Marvin growled, stepping in front of Tyler. "Why did you want my nephew dead?"

"To stop this town from going to the _dogs," _Katherine hissed, backing away even further.

Bonnie raised her head, her eyes narrowing. Katherine suddenly blurred and appeared behind Jeremy, who had been sitting zombie-like on the staircase. "Don't even think about using your powers on me, Bennett! Jeremy is still under _my _Compulsion, remember...If _any _of you so much as makes a single move towards me—"

"You'll do what?" Tyler said heatedly, starting to step forward.

"Temper," Marvin cautioned, catching Tyler's arm.

"Let go of Jeremy," Damon ordered, his eyes flicking towards Elena's frightened gaze. "Take your stupid Compusion off of him, and..."

"And what?" Katherine inquired, crossing her arms. "What do I get in return?"

Damon leaned against the banister casually, his gaze smoldering, "You get me."


	21. Understanding

"Absolutely not."

Everyone turned to look at Elena in surprise. Her gaze was steely, her tone firm. She looked only at Damon, ignoring Katherine completely. "I won't let you bargain your life for Jeremy's. We'll find another way."

"Don't worry, Elena," Damon said easily, still leaning against the banister in a casual pose. "Katherine wouldn't _dream _of killing me, would you?" He grinned and placed a finger under Katherine's chin, tipping her head up. "Do we have a deal?"

"Damon—" This time it was Stefan who spoke, "You don't have to do this."

"Hey, you're the one who told me I've never in my life done a selfless thing," Damon answered, still gazing at Katherine. "Who am I to turn up an opportunity to prove you wrong?"

"You said that to him?" Elena demanded, turning to look at Stefan accusingly. "Why would you say that?"

Katherine laughed, "Because it's true, sweetie. Damon never has, and never will, act selflessly."

A look of annoyance flashed across Damon's face, and Elena felt her hand clench into a fist. She longed to wipe that smirk off of Katherine's face. "You have no idea—" Fury radiated in her voice, and Katherine raised an eyebrow.

"Elena, honey, you're getting awfully defensive for no reason," Katherine shook her head, a cruel smile appearing at her lips. "What makes you think I even _want _Damon?"

If Bonnie had thought the situation was tense _before_, it was _nothing_ compared to the silence that followed Katherine's words.

"What?" Damon asked, his expression a mixture of disbelief and amusement. Clearly, there was some part of him that thought she was joking.

"You heard me Damon," Katherine stepped out of his reach so he wasn't touching her anymore. "I don't accept your deal. Jeremy's life is too valuable at the moment…and you're just not worth it."

"Not…_worth it?" _

Elena winced at Damon's tone. He sounded shocked...and hurt.

Katherine shrugged, grabbing Jeremy's hand and dragging him with her to the door. "Don't get me wrong, but…no_." _

"Hey!" Tyler broke out of his uncle's grip and started towards Katherine angrily, "Just where do you think you're going with Jeremy?"

"Tyler, no!" Bonnie grabbed his arm, but Tyler whirled around and—in a swift movement—shook her off, perhaps not knowing the extent of his own strength.

Elena screamed as Bonnie went flying backwards, hitting the wall with a resounding _thud, _before sliding to the floor. Unconscious.

"Now look what you've done!" Marvin roared, grabbing Tyler's shoulders furiously. "What have I told you about keeping your emotions in check!"

"What…what did I—" Tyler stammered, unable to believe what he'd just done.

"Werewolves," Katherine snapped, "A bunch of hotheaded _morons!" _Without a backwards glance, she hauled Jeremy over her shoulder and disappeared into the night.

* * *

Elena and Stefan crouched next to Bonnie worriedly, but Damon still hadn't moved. He looked frozen in place.

"Is she alright?" Marvin asked roughly, nodding towards Bonnie. "Does she need to go to the hospital?"

Stefan felt her pulse, and then checked her head gingerly. "She has a pretty big bruise on her head...it would probably be best to get it checked out." He paused and glanced at Elena, "I can take her to the hospital if you want."

Elena nodded wordlessly, slumping down on the sofa. This night already felt too long, and her nerves were strained from being in a constant state of fear.

"I'll go with you," Tyler muttered, not meeting Stefan's gaze.

Stefan nodded and glanced over at Damon, who was now sitting on the stairs. He seemed completely oblivious to what was happening around him.

The rest of the Lockwoods headed towards the door as one entity. "We'll check around the perimeter of Mystic Falls," Marvin said in a low voice. "See if we can find out what Katherine has planned for that boy."

"Jeremy," Elena interrupted with a small smile. "My brother."

"Yes. It didn't sound like she was planning on hurting him...just wanted him for leverage. But we'll be on the look out either way." Marvin nodded to her curtly before leading his pack outside. Within seconds, they had transformed and vanished into the darkness.

"Be safe," Stefan said to Elena, letting Tyler carry Bonnie out the door. "I'll call you from the hospital."

The door shut behind him, leaving Elena and Damon alone.

* * *

"Damon?" Elena slowly walked towards him, slightly afraid of what his reaction would be. She sat down next to him on the staircase, "Are you okay?"

He didn't look up, but closed his eyes briefly. Elena bit her lip before gently placing her hand on his shoulder. He tensed under her touch, but didn't move away. "You know she's wrong, don't you?" Elena waited, but he still didn't respond. "And Stefan...he was wrong, too."

At that, Damon met her gaze. "About what?" he asked roughly, "What was my _dear _brother wrong about?"

"I've seen you act selflessly, Damon. You're not anything like Katherine...and you deserve so much more than her."

"Do I?" He turned towards her, and she was shocked to see the intensity of the emotion on his face. "Maybe I'm just what she _wanted _me to be...maybe I'm just the monster she created..."

"You're not, and you know it. Katherine has lost all her humanity, Damon. She doesn't _feel..._but you feel too much...Why else would you spend 145 years searching for the woman you love?"

"Loved," he corrected automatically, grimacing. "Don't remind me."

They sat in silence for several moments. Elena didn't look at him when she voiced her thoughts, "What's the real reason you're upset? It can't be only because of what Katherine said. You already knew what she was...you already knew that she was a selfish, coldhearted bitch."

"I know," Damon admitted, "I _knew _she wasn't trapped in that tomb. I _knew _she had all this time to find me, and I knew she didn't care." He paused, and stared intently at Elena for a second. "But that doesn't mean it still doesn't hurt."

Elena nodded. In a weird way, she understood him. _You and I...we have something. An understanding..._

"For what it's worth," she said quietly, "I'm sorry."

She leaned forward and gently placed a kiss on his cheek, surprising them both.

Damon turned to look at her abruptly, before she had really pulled away.

___You and I...we have something._

He leaned in closer, letting their faces linger inches apart.

_An understanding._

And then he was kissing her.

It felt so natural, that Elena kissed him back without even thinking about it. She unconsciously slid her arm around Damon to pull him even closer, and she felt his hands drift down to rest lightly on her waist in response.

Neither of them noticed as the front door opened and two figures watched them bemusedly.

"I always knew this was going to happen," Isobel said to Alaric, rolling her eyes.

* * *

***hope I made their first real kiss epic enough :) **


	22. Trust

"Well, well. The dead just seem to keep coming back to life around here, don't they?"

"Hello, Damon."

"Isobel," he greeted before turning to look at Alaric accusingly. "And _you. _The last we heard, you were being chased down by a pack of hungry werewolves. Would it kill you to send your best bud a text with the words 'BTW I'm still alive'?"

Alaric rolled his eyes.

Elena blinked, feeling dazed. She realized she was still entangled in Damon's arms and quickly stood up, feeling the heat rise to her face. Isobel looked mildly amused while Alaric looked disapproving. "Um," Elena tried to gather her thoughts, "Katherine told us you were dead!"

"She lied," Isobel answered, her gaze flicking towards Damon as he stood up as well. "I never left town, but I knew she would assume I did."

"The last time I saw you, you told me that I would never see you again," Elena said, crossing her arms.

"Circumstances change," Isobel allowed. "At the time, I was entirely sure that our paths would not cross again. But your little Scooby gang has managed to keep Katherine sufficiently...occupied."

"Stefan," Damon suddenly said, his eyes narrowing. "He knew you were alive."

Elena frowned, "Why would he—"

"Yes," Isobel interrupted. "I told him I was still here."

"That's why he asked if Bonnie's spell would call _all _supernatural creatures in the area to your house," Damon explained when he saw Elena still looked confused. "He knew Isobel was around."

Realization slowly dawned on her face, "That's why he was looking out the window…"

"The spell called me to your house, but I stayed in the woods. Just far enough so I wouldn't be seen, but close enough to hear what was going on."

"And turns out the wolves weren't really chasing me," Alaric admitted. "I guess the hunting party just got in their way while they were running to your house."

"Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah, everyone scattered as soon as they heard the howling," Alaric snorted. "Some hunting party." He gestured to Isobel, "She pulled me out of the way."

"Ah, saving the lives of humans now?" Damon grinned, "Did somebody turn their switch back on?"

"You're one to talk," Isobel shot back, her lip curling as she glanced at Elena.

Damon glared at her warningly, ignoring both Elena and Alaric as they chorused, "What are you guys _talking_ about?"

"Vampire stuff," Isobel dismissed, "Anyway, we need to talk. Katherine has Jeremy, and she could very easily turn him into a vampire if you guys aren't careful."

"But why?" Elena asked desperately. "I still don't understand what she wants! Do you think she would really leave town if we killed Tyler?"

Isobel exchanged a glance with Alaric. She took a deep breath, "We better sit down for this."

* * *

"So," Isobel began, sitting down next to Alaric. She folded her hands and looked at Damon and Elena, who were seated side by side on the couch. "While you've all been busy dealing with Katherine, I've had time to do a lot of research on werewolves."

"Yeah?" Damon raised an eyebrow, "Find out anything interesting?"

Isobel looked like she was choosing her words carefully, "Werewolves are very...complex creatures."

"What do you mean?"

"Vampires do not age, but they are still essentially human. They still think, act, and feel as a human would...in short, a vampire will act for themselves because a human with no inhibitions would act the same way."

"But werewolves _do _age," Elena pointed out, "So wouldn't that make them more human?"

Isobel shook her head, "A werewolf on its own might be comparable to a human, but a werewolf _pack _is much, much different."

Damon leaned forward, his interest piqued. "A pack is like a family," he said slowly, "And usually, well, they _are _a family."

"Yes," Isobel agreed, "The Lockwood werewolf pack is a good example. Being a member of the pack—or even just being related to the Lockwoods—is enough to earn their protection."

"Protection?" Elena shivered, suddenly feeling cold. "You mean—"

"An eye for an eye," Isobel said, her tone low. "If you hurt a member of their pack or family, the pack _will _get revenge."

"But Katherine wanted Stefan or Damon to kill Tyler! There's no way that she wanted them _dead!" _

_"_The pack wouldn't kill the person who killed Tyler," Isobel corrected. "I said they would get _revenge._ They would kill the person that meant the most to Stefan or Damon..." She watched as horror washed over Damon's face. She turned to look at Elena, "They would have killed you."

There were a few moments of silence as everyone processed this information.

"What do we do?" Elena asked shakily.

"Isobel and I were talking earlier," Alaric said, "And we think it would be best if Katherine _thinks _that Tyler is dead."

"You want me to pretend to kill Tyler?" Damon demanded. "How exactly are we going to pull that off?"

"We would need the help of the witch. She must make it _look _like Tyler is dead." Isobel hesitated, "Then, the pack will have to pretend to kill Elena."

Damon's eyes flashed with anger, "Leave Elena out of this. It's too dangerous."

"It's the only way," Isobel said calmly. "Trust me."

"I don't _do _trust," Damon snapped, his shoulders rigid.

Isobel sighed, and turned to Elena. "Explain this to him, please. Alaric and I will go to the hospital to see how Bonnie is doing and fill in Stefan with the plan." She paused at the door, "Meet us at the hospital when you're done."

Elena nodded to show she understood. As soon as she heard the door close, she sighed and took a seat on the coffee table so that was directly in front of Damon.

"Look, I know you don't trust Isobel, but she has a point," Elena tried. "She's in the same boat as us. She wants Katherine gone as much as we do."

"So?"

"So, if what she said is true, then this sounds like the best idea..."

"I'll do this my way," Damon announced suddenly, beginning to stand up. He looked up in surprise when Elena's hand shot out to grasp his arm.

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"We're all sticking together on this one, Damon. We're stronger as a team—"

"Teamwork was never really my thing," Damon replied, easily sliding out of her grasp. "I'll take care of this," he called over his shoulder as he began walking to the door.

"Damon—_please_!" Elena said desperately.

He stopped.

Gratefully she ran up to the door to block his path. Damon met her gaze squarely, "Elena, I'm not going to let you put yourself in danger _again_. This is our mess. We'll fix it."

"There won't be any danger," Elena insisted. Then she took a deep breath, "And even if there was..."

Damon raised his eyebrows.

"I know you wouldn't let anything happen to me."

"Elena..."

"I know you," Elena said, walking closer to him. "You would do anything to protect the people you care about."

"Just because I—"

"So I know you'll understand," Elena cut him off, "When I tell you that this is _me_ protecting the people that _I _care about."

Damon fell silent, and she held out her hand. "Do you trust me?"

Elena waited with bated breath, and smiled when she felt Damon's hand gently encircle her own. She grinned as she opened the door, "Ready to get rid of that bitch?"

"Couldn't have said it better myself."


	23. Relentless

**A/N: **hey guys! sorry i havent been able to send out individual review-replies, but i just wanted to say THANK YOU for all your feedback! i absolutely love reading all of them :)

* * *

Tyler and Stefan were sitting in the waiting room of the hospital silently.

"So, this is weird, huh?"

Stefan made a noncommital noise.

"You blame me, don't you?" Tyler suddenly said, his hands gripping the sides of his chair. "You blame me for what happened with Caroline, and now you're blaming me for what happened with Bonnie!"

"No one is blaming anyone," Stefan said calmly, casting a wary eye around the hospital. "And keep your voice down."

"Don't tell me what to—"

Stefan grabbed the front of Tyler's shirt threateningly. "Listen to me, and listen good," he hissed. "I'm a _vampire_. I'm over _145 years old_...I've seen a lot worse things in my day than some hot-headed teenage werewolf, _got it_?"

Tyler growled, his hand clenching into a fist. "You think you scare me, _Salvatore_?"

"Guys!"

Tyler and Stefan broke apart as Bonnie hurried towards them, her hands on her hips. "God, what is _wrong _with you two?" she demanded in a harsh whisper. "You don't want people to see you as monsters but then you're ready to start fighting each other in a _hospital_, for god sakes!"

Tyler was breathing hard, but Stefan looked apologetic. "Bonnie, I'm sorry...I'm just worried..."

"Yeah, we all are," she tenderly touched a spot on her head and winced when it throbbed. "The doctor said I can go, it was just a surface wound."

"Not a concussion?" Tyler asked, the relief obvious in his voice.

Bonnie's face relaxed into a small smile, "No, I'm alright." She sighed, "Thank you for being here, though. Both of you."

"No problem," Tyler replied, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I'm glad you're okay."

Stefan looked between Bonnie and Tyler, but didn't comment. "Alright," he said tensely, "Let's get back to Elena's house before something else goes wrong."

"Are you still going out with her?" Tyler asked as they followed Stefan to his car.

"Yes, why?"

"Could have fooled me," Tyler muttered.

Stefan whirled around angrily, "If you have something to say—"

"Hey, break it up!" a familiar voice called.

Stefan turned around to see Isobel and Alaric heading in their direction. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, frowning at Isobel.

She didn't answer his question and turned to look at Bonnie instead. "Oh good, they've let you out of the hospital. That means you'll be able to do the spell."

"What spell?"

Alaric nodded to Stefan, "We'll explain on the way. Text Damon and Elena to tell them to meet us at my house. We all have a lot to talk about."

* * *

Elena was sitting in the passenger seat of Damon's car, and she stared out the window thoughtfully. The last time she had been in his car was their Georgia trip. Somehow, this time seemed more poignant, different.

Perhaps it had to do with the fact that Damon's hand was still entwined around her own, and his thumb was gently stroking her palm in a circular pattern. Elena smiled slightly at the tingly feeling running through her body. She turned to look at Damon pointedly, "Shouldn't you be using _both _hands to drive?"

Damon smirked as he looked over at her, with one hand lazily grasping the steering wheel. "I'm a vampire, remember? There's a lot of things I can do with only one hand."

Elena opened her mouth to respond, but closed it abruptly as she felt Damon let go of her hand to drum his fingers lightly up her bare arm. The tingly feeling increased and Elena shivered slightly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Damon grin.

"Besides," he drawled, "I'd much rather use _both _my hands for something _else_..." He trailed off, raising his eyebrows at her suggestively.

Elena shook her head, and resumed staring out the window. Suddenly, her phone beeped and she looked down to see a text message from Stefan, telling them to head to Alaric's house instead. She informed Damon, who abruptly jerked the steering wheel to the right and pulled smoothly off to the side of the road. "What are you doing?" she demanded.

He opened his door, gesturing for her to do the same. Elena merely crossed her arms, but he was at the passenger door in a flash. "Come on, out of the car," he said impatiently.

She huffed in annoyance as she got out and slammed the door behind her. "What's the deal, Damon? We're supposed to be getting to Alaric's! _Not _standing on some deserted side street in the middle of the night!"

Damon shrugged, "I just wanted to talk to you before we reached the others."

"We don't have time for this," Elena said shortly, turning to get back into the car. She gasped as Damon's arms suddenly slammed on either side of her, effectively caging her in.

"Can't get away from me that easy," he murmured, grinning when she shivered again. "No need to be so nervous, Elena. Don't you trust me?"

"What do you want?"

"Ah, what do _I _want..." Damon pretended to think, smirking when Elena rolled her eyes. "I want a lot of things, Elena...But right now I'd settle for knowing what you're planning on telling Stefan."

Clearly, she hadn't been expecting that. Her mouth dropped open, "What do you mean?"

"Oh, don't act all innocent with me," Damon scoffed. "I know you. You would never be able to keep that kiss a secret from Saint Stefan...not when you two have such an _honest and open relationship. _Am I right?"

Elena scowled at his tone, which had turned slightly mocking towards the end of his sentence. She crossed her arms, "You're right, I would never keep that a secret from him. But that doesn't mean that I have to tell him right now."

Damon stared her in disbelief.

"We're going up against Katherine!" Elena exclaimed, "I don't want Stefan thinking about the fact that I...you know."

"The fact that you kissed me?" Damon asked innocently, leaning closer to her. Elena stiffened against the car, but Damon dipped down to brush his lips against her neck instead. She swallowed as he carefully trailed kisses up her neck and across her cheek. He stopped at her lips, not quite touching them. She could feel his breath mixing with hers, and automatically started to lean towards him to close the gap between them. She paused in surprise when he suddenly leaned back.

"What's wrong?"

Damon turned around, his eyes scanning the road ahead of them and then behind them, clearly puzzled. "I thought I heard...something."

"Oh now you're trying to scare me? Very mature, Damon—"

Suddenly, a figure came out of nowhere, slamming into Damon with such force that he went flying into the darkness of the trees behind them.

Elena screamed as the vampire turned to look at her. He was huge, at least three times her size.

And he was angry.

Elena backed up, her eyes wide. "Who are you! What—what do you want?"

The vampire grinned menacingly, reaching out to grasp her arm in a death grip. Elena let out a squeak of terror, and looked behind her wildly.

No sign of Damon.

When she looked back, the vampire had extended his fangs, his eyes bloodthirsty. "Katherine sends her best wishes," he growled and swiftly sunk his fangs into her neck.

Elena screamed, trying in vain to push him off. She could feel herself getting dizzy and thought vaguely _he's not looking for a snack...he's out for the kill..._

She felt her feet getting wet and confusedly wondered if it was raining. She looked down to see her own blood pooling on the ground. _So much blood...gone..._

There was a roar of fury and the vampire abruptly released her as he was thrown backwards into the car, smashing all the windows in the process.

Elena briefly wondered what had happened, but then she hit the ground and remembered no more.


	24. Lifeforce

"_Come on, wake up…"_

The voice echoed, seemingly from a great distance away. Elena tried to respond, but found—to her horror—that she couldn't move.

"_Elena!"_

She felt the oddest feeling of disconnect.

From her life.

From reality.

It was almost like she was floating slightly above her body, watching the scene unfold. She wasn't _dead_—at least, she didn't think so—for she could still feel the breeze of cool air across her face, could still feel a cold hand stroke her cheek, and could still hear a voice begging.

"_Please…"_

She didn't think she had ever heard someone sound so desperate, so fearful. _I'm okay, _she tried to say, but couldn't.

Dimly, Elena began to register a metallic taste on her tongue. It was cool and somehow hard, even though she could feel a thick liquid running down her throat. Suddenly, she felt like she was suffocating and began coughing uncontrollably.

"_Shit_," someone muttered, and Elena felt her head being lifted gently. The pressure in her throat eased, and she relaxed in the person's arms, growing accustomed to the taste in her mouth.

"_That's it, Elena…slowly, come on…open your eyes…" _

She obeyed, and her eyelids fluttered open. She blinked several times, relief flooding through her veins when she realized she could move her body again. As her vision adjusted to the darkness, she recognized the figure holding her in his arms.

"Damon? What—"

"Shh, don't try to move just yet," he cautioned, hauling her body closer to his. "Just hold on to me, okay?"

Elena slid her arms around his neck automatically, and he gradually stood them both up. She swayed on her feet, and he caught her quickly around the waist, letting her lean on him. "How are you feeling? Can you stand?"

Elena rubbed her face tiredly, reaching up to brush the hair out of her face. Before she could, Damon's hand shot out to gently tug her hair backwards. "Thanks," Elena mumbled, feeling very lightheaded. "What's going on? The last thing I remember…that vampire—"

"Is dead," Damon interrupted, his voice hard. His arms tightened around her briefly, and she winced. He immediately loosened his hold, but didn't completely let go of her.

"Did you…kill him?"

Damon stared at her, his expression unreadable. "I didn't have a choice. He was going to drain you dry."

"He did…" Elena trailed off, remembering. "You pulled him off me, didn't you?"

"Not soon enough," Damon said in a strained voice. "He was strong, Elena. I didn't get back to you in time…A few more seconds and you would have been—" he broke off, his face tightening with some unidentifiable emotion.

Elena swallowed, just now realizing how close to death she had come. "Did—did you know I was still alive when you…fed me your blood?"

Damon's expression flickered. Clearly he knew what she was really asking. _If I was dying, would you have turned me? _

He looked away from her when he answered, "I could still hear your heart beating. It was weak, but I knew I could save you."

Elena tried to smile, "Thank you. For saving my life." Her gaze drifted to the shattered car behind Damon, "I guess we're not driving that thing anymore."

"I already called Stefan," he answered stiffly. "He'll be here soon."

"Did you tell him…everything?"

"I told him that we were attacked."

"And that you saved my life?" Elena prompted when Damon didn't continue.

"No."

"Why not?" Elena argued. "I'm sure Stefan would be grateful to know that—"

"Just drop it," he said sharply. "He doesn't need to know all the details."

At that moment, headlights swung around the corner and a car pulled up to where they were standing.

"Elena! Thank god!" Stefan leapt out of the car and ran towards her, pulling her into a tight hug. Damon looked away when he saw Elena watching him as she hugged Stefan back. The guilt was clear on her face.

Alaric got out of the car, raising his eyebrows when he saw the wreck that had once been Damon's car. "Damn.."

"That about describes it," Damon answered dryly. "One of Katherine's minions caught us off guard. He's dead now."

"I see..."

Stefan suddenly snapped, "How could you let this happen, Damon? I trusted you with Elena's safety, and—"

"Hey!" Elena protested, beginning to look angry. She pushed herself out of Stefan's grip to face him properly. "Why are you blaming Damon? This isn't his fault! That vampire was huge!"

"Yeah? Well how did he even manage to get to you guys? Why were you stopped in the middle of some random road?" Stefan demanded, directing his questions to Damon.

Elena placed her hands on her hips, "Damon thought he heard someone following us, so he stopped the car to check. I got out of the car because I wanted to see what was taking so long. It's no one's fault what happened."

Damon raised an eyebrow. _Elena was blatantly lying to Stefan? This was new._..

Stefan stared between them suspiciously, clearly not buying her story. "Fine," he agreed eventually. "Well everyone is waiting at Alaric's house, including Bonnie. Isobel is explaining the plan to her right now. From what I heard before we left, Bonnie seemed to be agreeing to it."

"Yeah, well, as long as the little witch doesn't two-time us again," Damon said moodily.

"She won't," Elena and Stefan said at the same time. Stefan coughed, and Elena frowned before continuing, "She wants Katherine gone, too. And she would never hurt me or Tyler..."

"True," Damon acknowledged reluctantly. "So does she know a spell or what?"

"We'll have to go back to Alaric's and see what's going on," Stefan answered, gesturing back to his car. "What should we do with your car, Damon?"

"Leave it. I'll get it fixed when this is all over."

Elena got into the backseat of Stefan's car, and he paused, looking puzzled. Elena didn't notice and gestured to Damon impatiently, "Hurry up and get in. It's already late."

Damon briefly glanced at Stefan's face as he got into the backseat next to Elena. Alaric looked baffled, and slowly got into the passenger seat. Stefan shook his head before hopping behind the wheel. "You sure you're okay Elena? You're acting kind of strange..."

"I'm fine."

They drove the rest of the way in silence. Damon stared out the window, replaying the night's events in his head. _She had been so pale...so close to death..._His hand clenched as he remembered her near-lifeless body in his arms. _And once again, it all came down to Katherine...everything that had ever gone wrong in his life always came back to her. She was like a parasite, spreading darkness wherever she went—_

"Damon?"

"Huh?" he snapped out of his reverie, realizing that they had reached their destination. "Oh..." he quickly got out of the car, and Elena gave him a quizzical look as they followed Stefan and Alaric up the steep footpath.

Bonnie, Isobel, Tyler, and the rest of the werewolves were waiting for them on the porch.

"Oh, look," Damon said in mock seriousness. "A welcoming party."

"We've all discussed the plan," Isobel called to them as they approached. "And everyone has agreed to it."

"Is it time, then?"

Bonnie nodded, a smile flickering at her lips. "Time to get rid of Katherine once and for all."

* * *

***next chapter will be Bonnie's spell! and i guarantee it'll be exciting =P **


	25. Potion

**A/N: **sorry if this chapter seems a bit heavy on the plot aspect, but there's only a few chapters left so it was important to build up to the final scenes...more Delena coming up next chapter, I promise :)

* * *

It was the following day, and everyone was gathered at Alaric's house once again.

"I really hope you're not all getting used to skipping school," Alaric said at one point. "Because as soon as this is over, I'm not taking _any _excuses."

"Killjoy," Damon's voice called from another room.

Elena laughed to herself as she focused on helping Bonnie mix together the ingredients for the spell. Unlike most of the other ones Bonnie had performed, this spell was more complicated than murmuring a few phrases. Since the plan involved both Elena and Tyler being "dead" for a certain period of time, this spell involved making potions.

It wasn't something that Bonnie had ever attempted before, but there were quite a few potion recipes in her spellbook. Thankfully, Isobel had researched witchcraft in addition to vampires and werewolves, so she was also of some help.

Unlike Stefan, who seemed more than a little uncomfortable with the idea of Elena drinking the potion.

Then there was Damon.

Bonnie scowled to herself as she remembered the events from last night. They had all spent the greater part of the night figuring out how the plan was going to work. At one point, Bonnie had gone to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Lo and behold, Damon had been waiting for her by the sink.

"_What do you want?" Bonnie asked coolly. It hadn't escaped her thoughts that Katherine being in Mystic Falls was indirectly Damon's fault. If he hadn't been attracted to such a sadistic psychopath in the first place…_

"_And here I was, thinking we were on the path to friendship," Damon responded sarcastically. He stepped closer to her, and Bonnie involuntarily backed up into the countertop. _

"_You don't scare me," she warned. "I can very easily cause you _pain_…"_

"_No need to tire yourself on my account," Damon replied casually. "I just wanted to have a little chat with my favorite witch."_

_Bonnie crossed her arms in an attempt to put more space between herself and Damon. "What do you want?" she repeated. _

"_I just wanted you to know that we're all putting our lives into your hands," Damon said slowly, his voice low. "You may have betrayed us last time, but I can accept your vendetta against vampires. But this time your little potion involves humans. Like Elena. If you even THINK about using this as an opportunity to get revenge on me and Stefan, then I swear I will—"_

"_You really think I would hurt my best friend?" Bonnie interrupted, anger flaring in her veins. She could feel her power bubbling to the surface, and a knowing look from Damon showed her that he knew what was happening. _

"_Tsk tsk tsk. Still haven't gotten a handle on your emotions, have you? I warned you before…that'll just make you easy bait for Katherine…"_

"_I can handle myself," Bonnie retorted, her voice cold. "And don't you dare accuse me of sabotaging this plan to get revenge! I would never hurt Elena, and I would never hurt Tyler. This isn't about you, Damon. It's about getting rid of Katherine."_

_Damon nodded then, and backed away slightly. "Glad to see we're on the same page, witch." _

"_Right back at you, vampire."_

"Bonnie?"

She jumped and looked at Elena, who was gazing at her in concern. "Are you okay? You looked like you were in another world…"

"I'm fine," Bonnie tried to smile. "I just hope the potion works."

"We have complete faith in you," Elena answered, looking up as Damon entered the room.

"We sure do," Damon put in, "After all, we wouldn't want anything to go _wrong _now, would we?"

"No, of course not," Bonnie snapped. Wasn't _Damon_ the one that had murdered about half the humans in Mystic Falls? What was his deal, anyway?

As these thoughts ran through her head, Bonnie happened to glance up. Damon was hovering above Elena, his signature smirk in place. Elena laughed at whatever he had said, and playfully swatted his arm. He smiled slightly in return and whispered something in Elena's ear.

_Oh god, _Bonnie realized, her stomach churning uncomfortably at the thought, _It's true…Damon really is in love with Elena…_

"How's the potion coming along?" Isobel asked, walking into the room with Alaric. "Almost ready?"

"Yeah, I think so," Bonnie said, shaking her head to clear it. "I hope I've done everything right..."

"I'm sure you did," Isobel dismissed, "Katherine always spoke very highly of Emily Bennett. She was very powerful, and I have no doubt that you are, too."

"Hello, Stefan," Damon suddenly said, turning towards the front door. Stefan walked in a moment later, looking bemused to see everyone staring in his direction.

"I talked to Tyler's pack. They've agreed to be at the meeting point in about an hour. Tyler said he'll drop by soon to pick up the potion."

"Did you talk to Katherine?"

"I told her that we had talked and decided that if killing Tyler was the only way to get rid of her _and _to ensure Jeremy's safety, then we would do it."

"She bought it?"

"Yeah...but she was pretty adamant about _Damon _being the one to actually kill Tyler. She doesn't want anyone else to be a part of it, or even to be nearby when it happens."

"That's weird," Elena replied, glancing at Damon.

Damon shrugged in response, "Who knows. Katherine's mind works in mysterious ways."

Alaric and Isobel exchanged a knowing look, and Bonnie stared at them suspiciously. "Okay," she announced, sitting back on her heels. "The potion should be done. Shall we run through the plan one more time before we leave?"

Stefan sighed, looking agitated. "Are you sure this potion is safe, Bonnie? There won't be any...lasting effects will there?"

"I only know what the book tells me...it just says to use this spell to mimic the effects of death."

Damon crossed his arms, still not looking happy. He lifted his head slightly, "I believe Tyler is here."

Sure enough, Tyler knocked on the door a second later. "Is the potion ready?"

"It is," Bonnie said, hopping up to hand him a small goblet. She handed an identical one to Elena. "It's best if you both drink it at the same time, so you'll both be affected within the same time period."

"Okay," Elena took a deep breath, looking nervous. She unscrewed the cap and lifted the goblet to her lips.

Tyler did the same. "Here goes nothing," he announced before slinging the whole thing back in one gulp. Elena quickly tossed the contents back as well, causing Stefan to raise an eyebrow.

Damon, however, smirked. "That's right, Elena. Just pretend it's a shot...we all know how _capable _you are of consuming alcohol..."

Elena ignored him, but she and Tyler both made a face. "Damn," Tyler coughed, "This shit _burns_."

"How do you feel?" Bonnie asked worriedly.

"I don't feel any different," Elena said after a minute. "So that a good thing, I guess? What about you, Ty_—" _she broke off, alarmed.

Tyler's eyes had dilated, the pupils becoming dark, the irises a glowing yellow. He yelled in pain and Bonnie stumbled forward, shocked.

Tyler dropped to the floor, writhing with agony.

Before their eyes, he transformed.

"Everyone get back!" Alaric shouted, pulling Isobel to his side. Bonnie couldn't bring herself to move, and Stefan leapt towards her, shielding her from Tyler. Damon vamped out, crouching in front of Elena.

But he need not have bothered.

Tyler the werewolf hissed at them, baring its teeth. As the wolf took a step towards Damon, it suddenly paused, the eyes widening in a very human-esque way.

Then it fell.

And didn't move again.

* * *

***bonnie's spells never do seem to go right, do they? ;) **


	26. Boundaries

Everyone watched fearfully as Damon and Isobel examined the werewolf's body. "Definitely dead," Damon announced, poking the werewolf cautiously. "No heartbeat."

"Oh my god," Bonnie breathed, "What did I do?"

"No, wait—" Elena protested, wrapping an arm around her friend. "The potion can't have gone wrong. I'm still standing here, aren't I?"

"She does have a point," Stefan said, staring at Elena curiously.

"Not to state the obvious or anything," Alaric began, "But what if the spell _did _work?"

"What just on Tyler and not on Elena?" Isobel demanded.

Damon looked up suddenly, his eyes narrowing. "What is it?" Elena asked, recognizing that Damon had figured something out.

"Let me see the spellbook," Damon ordered, and Bonnie hesitantly handed it over to him. His eyes skimmed down the page, "I think Alaric is right. The spell did work. Just a little sooner than anticipated."

Stefan frowned, "You think the spell only works on supernatural creatures or something?"

"No, it was meant to only work on humans," Damon explained, handing the book back to Bonnie. "The spell says the potion will take effect in exactly an hour, but werewolves—"

Isobel snapped her fingers, "That's right! It would affect a werewolf ten times faster than it would a human! Their blood runs hotter, faster...the potion would affect them almost immediately!"

"See? You didn't screw up," Elena smiled, giving her friend a quick hug. "Tyler will be just fine."

"Though this changes the plan a bit," Alaric pointed out. "Do you think Katherine will want to actually witness Damon killing Tyler?"

"Well, nothing can be done about it now," Damon snapped. "Someone should warn the rest of the pack what's happened..."

"I'll do it," Bonnie said unsteadily.

"I'll drive you," Stefan offered, nodding to Damon. "Be at the meeting place as planned. I'll call if something changes."

"Isobel and I will go stake out the place," Alaric said briskly. "We'll be nearby if anything goes wrong. Make sure Tyler is hidden in your car while you're driving to the woods. We don't need anyone getting suspicious."

"Driving?" Damon shook his head, "Aren't you forgetting something? My car is totaled from our encounter with that vamp."

"I'll be back to pick you up then," Stefan called, looking down at his watch. "I'll be back soon."

Isobel paused at the door, glancing behind her. She looked like she wanted to say something, but she finally settled on, "Be careful."

The door shut quietly behind her.

Damon grinned at Elena and hopped onto the couch, lounging back casually. "For someone who's gonna die in an hour, you're looking pretty good."

"This isn't something to joke about, Damon," Elena chastised. "You realize we're trying to _outsmart _Katherine, don't you? I just have this horrible feeling that she knows what we're up to..."

"Oh _god,_ you're turning into Stefan," Damon groaned good-naturedly. "Quit with the brooding act, alright? The look doesn't suit you."

"I can't help what I feel," Elena retorted, realizing belatedly the double meaning in her sentence.

"Can't you?" Damon asked in a low voice, turning suddenly to face her. His blue eyes were piercing, as if he could see right through her.

Elena looked away, unable to handle the intensity of his gaze.

She felt_,_ rather than heard, Damon shifting closer to her on the sofa. She swallowed and reluctantly turned around to face him, her heartbeat rising rapidly when she realized how close he was.

"_Can't you?" _His gaze smoldered as he gently reached up to lay a hand on her cheek. Elena leaned into his touch, her body relaxing immediately.

"How do you do that?" she murmured.

"Do what?"

"Make me feel like—like..." Elena trailed off, trying to put her thoughts into words. "Like everything's gonna be okay," she said slowly, realizing it was true even as she said it.

"I guess it must be my natural charm," he winked at her, and Elena rolled her eyes.

"Your ego knows no bounds, does it?"

"You know me," Damon breathed suggestively, "I like to cross the line..." He let his hand fall from her cheek as he leaned closer. Elena's heart stuttered when she saw his gaze fall to her lips, then flick back to look into her eyes. Keeping his gaze locked on hers, Damon dipped his head and gently pressed a kiss to her throat.

Elena gasped, not expecting the movement. She saw Damon smirk slightly as he slowly trailed kisses up her throat, skimming her jawline with the barest touch. As he pulled back, her skin tingled. "Mmm, all that blood rushing to your cheeks is so tempting," Damon teased, his eyes glittering with humor.

"Damon..."

"Shh," he murmured, and she shifted closer to him, keeping her head down so that her hair fell into her face.

"Please be careful when you meet Katherine," she whispered, her tone pleading. "I know you want to hurt her for what she said to you, but _please _don't try to get revenge, alright?"

Damon frowned and tipped her chin up, brushing the hair out of her eyes. "You don't have to worry about me, Elena. Vampire, remember?"

Elena laughed shakily, "But so is she. Just...don't get yourself killed...Promise?"

Damon rolled his eyes and was about to brush off her comment, when she reached out to clutch his shirt desperately. "Promise?"

So, she was serious.

He smiled at her comfortingly, and leaned down to capture her lips with his. To his relief, she kissed him back immediately, her arms reaching around his neck to pull him closer against her body.

After a few seconds, she abruptly leaned back. Damon looked at her in surprise, "What is it?"

She merely raised an eyebrow.

He sighed, "Alright, alright, I promise I won't do anything stupid like trying to get revenge on Katherine. Happy?"

Elena grinned, satisfied. She pulled him towards her again, noticing that his gaze had begun to darken, the veins appearing like spiderwebs around his eyes.

Damon realized what was happening a split second later, and he paused uncertainly. Elena met his gaze evenly, and slowly pressed a kiss to his lips. "Don't worry," she murmured, "I trust you."

At that moment, the door flung open.

Elena and Damon broke apart in shock, both turning to see who was standing there.

* * *

***any guesses? ;) **


	27. Vengeance

"What the hell is going on here?"

"Stefan!" Elena jumped up, her eyes widening. "What—what are you doing back here so soon?"

"Were you _feeding _off her?" Stefan hissed, his hand clenching into a fist as he ignored Elena completely.

Elena was momentarily confused, but she glanced at Damon and realized he still had his vamp face on. "It wasn't—"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down little bro," Damon warned, standing up. "I would never feed off Elena, and you know it."

"Do I?" Stefan challenged, walking more fully into the room. "Forgive me, but I'm having a little trouble believing anything you say these days."

"Damon wasn't drinking my blood!" Elena interrupted, crossing her arms. "He never has."

"That's right," Damon said belligerently, reverting back to human form. "But of course you _would _like to believe the worst in me, wouldn't you?"

"Can you blame me? You don't exactly have the best track record," Stefan pointed out, his voice taking on an edge.

"You trust me with Elena," Damon responded arrogantly. "Admit it. You _know _that I would never hurt her. Why else would you jump in front of Bonnie when Tyler morphed into the big, bad wolf? You left Elena completely unprotected!"

Stefan's expression flickered, "Because I knew that—"

"You knew that I would protect Elena," Damon finished.

"But that doesn't explain—" At that moment, Stefan's cell phone rang and he broke off, looking frustrated. "Hello?"

_"Where are you guys? It's almost time for the meeting! Get over here, now!" _

"We'll be there," Stefan snapped, hanging up. "Alaric says we should start heading over there."

"Okay, let's go," Damon agreed readily. Just to piss off Stefan, he blew Elena a kiss from the doorway. "Be safe, sweetheart."

Elena shook her head at him, and Stefan growled something under his breath.

Damon grinned, "Time for a little visit with Mystic Falls' very own resident bitch..."

* * *

Damon and Stefan stood in a small clearing in the woods, very near to the tomb that Pearl and the other vampires had been trapped in for years. The location seemed fitting somehow.

It was in this very spot that Damon had been hit with the realization that Katherine had really been free, all these years, and she hadn't bothered to ever come find him.

Now he could finally have his vengeance.

"I'm not going to let this go, you know," Stefan said in a low voice. "When this is all over, we _are _going to have a little chat about Elena. And you crossing the line."

Damon groaned, "Oh give it a _rest_! As far as I'm concerned, the line has been blurred. It's up to Elena now."

"What is _that _supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like."

Stefan opened his mouth to argue, but shut it again when he heard the rustle of the trees.

_She was coming. _

Damon heard it as well, and he slouched into a casual pose. Waiting.

Within seconds, there was a _whoosh_ of air and she suddenly stood before them, her hands on her hips and eyes glinting in the darkness.

"Katherine," Damon acknowledged, looking her over. She wore a long, blood-red dress. Her hair was curled elaborately, much like she had done in the photograph Damon had of her. Whether by coincidence or on purpose, he didn't know.

"I see you have brought me something," Katherine said throatily, pointing to the carcass lying at Damon's feet. "Is that Tyler?"

"Yes," Damon kicked the wolf's body slightly away from him. "I killed him, as you asked."

"By yourself?" Katherine asked sharply, "No one else was around? Just you?"

"Just me," he confirmed.

"Then why is Stefan here?" she demanded.

"My car has been totaled," Damon answered, narrowing his eyes. "But of course _you _wouldn't know anything about that."

"Nope," Katherine shrugged, smiling. "But I see you have fulfilled your end of the bargain, so it's time for me to fulfill mine."

"Jeremy?"

She nodded and reached into the folds of her dress, taking out a small piece of paper. "Here is the address where Jeremy is. Don't worry, he's perfectly safe."

"I doubt that," Damon muttered, but he reached out to take the note.

Suddenly, Katherine pulled her hand back, tilting her head. "Do you hear that?"

Stefan and Damon exchanged a look, both hearing the howls of rage and the thundering footsteps coming in their direction. "Wonder what that could be..."

No sooner were the words were out of his mouth, than were they swiftly surrounded by the Lockwood pack. Marvin switched back into human form, a growl escaping his throat when he saw Tyler lying on the floor. "You KILLED him!" he roared. He looked wildly around the clearing, his gaze settling on Damon angrily, "Your scent is all over him! You murdered him, didn't you?"

"So what if I did?" Damon sneered. "You gonna kill me too?"

"Oh no," Marvin shook his head vehemently. "You murdered a member of our family, so—"

"You'll kill _my _family?" Damon inserted with a grin. He shoved Stefan forward, "Well here ya go."

Stefan glared at him, but Marvin shook his head again. "No," he narrowed his eyes, "it's only fair that we kill someone you care about as much as we cared about Tyler."

"Yeah? And who would that be?"

Marvin grinned cruelly, "We've all seen how you look at that human girl Elena. Too bad she's going to have to pay for _your _mistake..."

"You can't—" Stefan began, but Katherine suddenly laughed.

"What's so funny?" Marvin snapped.

"I have a little confession to make," Katherine chortled, sounding highly amused.

Marvin and Damon exchanged a worried glance. She hadn't caught on to their plan, had she? It had been going so well...

"What is it?"

Katherine merely raised her eyebrows and pulled out her cellphone, speaking in a low voice that neither Damon nor Stefan could hear. "They should be here in a moment," she said joyfully.

"Who?" Marvin demanded. "Listen, _vamp—" _he broke off as two figures appeared in their midst. His mouth dropped open in shock.

Both Damon and Stefan stepped forward, looking horrified. A thin, sallow faced vampire grinned at them, blood running down his chin as he threw a body onto the ground in front of them.

_Elena. _

"See?" Katherine knelt down and stroked Elena's hair. "I did your job for you," she looked up at Marvin, a crazy smile lighting her features.

* * *

***only a couple chapters left! (hope this chapter wasn't too confusing...remember, the last part with the werewolves was all part of the PLAN—except for the scene with Elena.) **


	28. Finale: Part I

**A/N: **sorry for the long wait! but since these ARE the final chapters, i wanted it to be perfect :)

* * *

"You—you…what?" Marvin stammered helplessly, shooting a bewildered look in Damon's direction.

"I got Elena killed for you," Katherine repeated, her voice pleasant. "You should be thanking me."

Stefan looked frozen as he stared down at Elena's unmoving body in horror.

Damon knelt down hurriedly. _Please be the potion, please be the potion, _he begged as he failed to locate a heartbeat.

"Well...uh, I guess you saved us the trouble of having to find her!" Marvin announced belatedly, exchanging a look with the rest of the pack. "Where was she? At home?"

"Nope, she was at that teacher's house…Alaric Saltzman."

"Wow, how did you manage to score an invite into _that _house?" Marvin asked interestedly.

"Oh please," Katherine dismissed. "Like that was going to stop me. I had Elena's little friend…Matt…lure her outside. Then, it was easy."

"Matt?" Damon interrupted angrily. "You Compelled him? How did you even find him?"

"Haven't you heard?" Katherine looked surprised. "There's a sort of search party going around Mystic Falls for Tyler. He was with them."

"But—but I _just _killed Tyler!" Damon sputtered. "How are they _already _looking for him?"

Marvin looked uncomfortable at that. "Er, well…his mother might not exactly know about the, uh, werewolf activities. So, technically, Tyler's been missing for a couple days…"

Damon stopped listening as Marvin rambled on. Still kneeling, he tenderly stroked Elena's cheek. _She was so pale…_With the rosiness gone from her features, she resembled Katherine now more than ever. "I'm so sorry," Damon whispered, "It's all my fault…"

"That's right," Katherine put in gleefully. "It _is _all your fault! Want to know why I wanted _you _to kill Tyler?"

"Not really," Damon snapped, looking up to glare at her.

"Well, I'll tell you anyway," Katherine said, undeterred. "See, I know quite a lot about werewolf laws. And I knew that whoever killed a member of their pack wouldn't face death themselves. Rather, the pack would go after someone that the killer loved deeply…and for you, that would be Elena."

Damon couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Apparently, neither could Stefan.

"Then why didn't you want _me _to kill Tyler?" Stefan demanded. "The outcome would have been the same…"

Katherine shook her head, "No. I don't think it would have been. Only with Damon could I guarantee Elena's death."

* * *

"She just said that it's Damon's fault that Elena is dead," Bonnie informed the others, her eyes closed as she concentrated.

"I still don't get how Bonnie is hearing them," Alaric whispered to Isobel.

"She's not just hearing them," Isobel explained patiently. "She's _seeing _the scene in her mind. It's like she's there with them. Except she's not."

"But—"

"It's a witch thing," Isobel interrupted, "A _powerful_ witch thing. And quite useful, as you can see. Now we know what's going on without being too close. Katherine has no idea that we're nearby."

"Now Stefan is arguing with Katherine," Bonnie said wearily. "Saying that he doesn't love anyone more than Elena...this argument could take a while..."

"What's Damon doing?" Isobel asked curiously.

Bonnie frowned, squeezing her eyes shut. "He looks pretty broken up...he's just sort of sitting next to Elena's body..."

"She's not really dead, is she?" Alaric demanded, suddenly looking worried. "I mean, this _is _the potion working, right?"

"There's no way of knowing," Bonnie said miserably. "The best news we have is that the potion _should _have kicked in by now. But we don't know what time that vampire managed to get ahold of Elena. If he drained her _before _the potion went into effect..."

"Then she's really dead," Isobel's voice was distant.

"But," Bonnie continued hurriedly, "If the potion went into effect _while _he was draining her, then she'll still be alive."

"We won't know for about another 30 minutes," Alaric said nervously, glancing at his watch.

"Marvin just said he's leaving," Bonnie said suddenly. She turned to look at them, "Smart move, considering that Tyler should be waking up any minute. He was affected by the potion faster, so it should be leaving his system soon."

Isobel nodded in agreement, "What are the others doing?"

"Stefan is still arguing with Katherine," Bonnie rolled her eyes. She frowned, "Man, I don't think I've ever seen Damon look like that before..."

"Like what?"

"Like someone who's lost everything..."

* * *

Elena's body felt weighed down, like she was underwater. She felt like she was walking the thin line between dreams and reality, yet she couldn't seem to force herself to wake up.

Flashes of memories flew past her mind's eye, much too quickly for her to grasp anything concrete.

_That girl is gonna thank me for what I did to her...  
Did you thank Katherine?_

Katherine...she could hear her petulant voice, so much like her own...yet so different at the same time.

_I don't wanna talk about my future, Stefan. Because everything you're saying makes it perfectly clear you aren't gonna be in it!_

Stefan was there, too. She could hear him...And even through her hazy state, she felt a brief flash of anger. He was too busy arguing with Katherine about some stupid thing—why she hadn't wanted him to kill Tyler—than to pay any attention to Elena's supposedly dead body lying just a few feet away.

_Does it get tiring, being so righteous?  
__It flares up in the presence of psychopaths..._

Damon was here. Elena could somehow feel him there, hovering over her.

_I didn't Compel you in Atlanta because we were having fun. I wanted it to be real._

In a weird way, Elena almost felt like she was watching the scene happening around her. She could _see _Damon kneeling over her body, looking completely grief-stricken. Briefly, she felt confused. Why did he think she was really dead? Wasn't this all part of the plan?

_What is this, a threesome now? You and the Salvatore brothers?_

Elena felt Damon brush a strand of hair out of her face. He murmured something that she couldn't quite hear, but she felt his pain.

_As long as you have a Salvatore on each arm, you are doomed..._

Isobel was nearby, too. Elena could just feel it...and there was someone else, too...

_But you took a risk with Damon...  
...because he's in love with you._

_'He is, you know...'_

_'Bonnie?' _Elena frowned, confused. '_How are you in my head? Is this real?'_

_'The potion has almost run its course.'_

_'Huh?'_

_'He is," _Bonnie's voice began fading away, '_he's in love with you.'_

Abruptly, the voices around Elena grew stronger, more clear. But she still couldn't open her eyes. She tried to reach out, and was relieved to find she could move her arm. Slowly, she grasped a cool hand and tightened her grip around it, feeling a sense of relief. "Damon..."

Katherine froze, her eyes widening with shock.


	29. Finale: Part II

"Elena! Oh thank god," Damon gathered her into his arms gratefully, breathing into her hair. At that moment, he didn't care that Stefan was watching or that Katherine looked furious.

Elena was alright.

That was all that mattered.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," she murmured, returning his embrace tightly. She closed her eyes, resting her head on his shoulder in relief.

"_What is the meaning of this!" _Katherine shrieked, grabbing the collar of Stefan's leather jacket and shoving him into the nearest tree in a quick blur. Stefan winced as she tightened her grip around his throat, "She's not dead!"

"Yeah, I can see that," Stefan snapped, trying in vain to remove himself from her grasp. "Damon? A little help here?"

Damon looked up, his expression dazed. Elena smiled at him reassuringly, holding out her hand as she stood up. He took her hand within his, and didn't let go even after he was standing by her side.

Both Stefan and Katherine scowled.

Elena cleared her throat, "Well, as you can see…I'm not dead."

Katherine glared, "How?"

"It was me," a voice announced.

Everyone turned to see Bonnie hurriedly walking towards them, closely followed by both Alaric and Isobel.

"Bennett?" Katherine said in disbelief. Her expression quickly morphed into hatred when she saw Isobel, "_You."_

"Me," Isobel responded calmly, standing next to Elena. Taking his cue from her, Alaric stood next to Damon. "Curious thing," she drawled, "But rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you Katherine?"

"Rumors?" Katherine snarled in response, "Not for long!"

"Tsk tsk, we wouldn't want to get too cocky now," Isobel's eyes glinted. "What do we have here? Five…no, _six _against one? Even you can't beat those odds, Katherine…no matter how _ancient _you are."

Katherine laughed, "As if any of you even stand a chance! I could kill Elena in two seconds flat, then chop off Alaric's finger like I did _dear _John Gilbert's…"

Isobel flinched, which had clearly been Katherine's intention. "You're not getting near Elena," Damon suddenly spoke for the first time, his voice dangerously low.

"Wanna bet?"

"You won't," Bonnie said unexpectedly. "If it was your intention to kill Elena, then you wouldn't have jumped through so many hoops to ensure that it was the werewolf pack who got to kill her, and not you."

"I only did that because—"

"Because you knew that neither Stefan nor Damon would ever forgive you if _you _had a direct hand in Elena's death," Alaric finished.

"You should have never tried to outsmart me," Katherine's voice took on a menacing quality. She held out her hand, which still held a piece of paper. As they watched, she swiftly ripped it into shreds.

"What was that?" Elena frowned, not understanding why Damon and Stefan exchanged a worried glance.

"That, my sweet Elena, was the _only _way you pathetic fools had of finding that bratty brother of yours." Katherine smiled, "And now it's gone."

"We don't need you," Bonnie snapped, "We'll find him some other way!"

"Oh, are you going to try a location spell again?" Katherine grinned, "Because the last one turned out so well, didn't it?"

"How did you know about that?

"You forget, I know _everything_…" Katherine said coyly, raising her eyebrows at Stefan. "That little spell took you to the building where Anna met her death, didn't it?"

"Because her blood was on the shirt," Damon interjected angrily.

"And do you know _why _Anna's blood was on the shirt?" Katherine questioned, sounding amused.

"Maybe they got a little kinky during—"

"Damon!" Elena protested.

"What? It could happen—"

"I was having a nice little chat with Jeremy earlier," Katherine interrupted, smiling wickedly. "He was telling me how Anna decided to give him a vial of her blood on Founder's Day…"

Damon suddenly froze, his expression changing to one of realization.

"You've figured it out already, haven't you?" Katherine asked, raising her eyebrows in reluctant admiration.

"He…he drank her blood…and then tried to kill himself…" Damon said slowly, turning to look at Elena. "He wanted to become a vampire…_shit!" _

"What is it?" Elena grabbed his arm as he turned away from her, running his fingers through his hair in anger. "Damon! What's wrong?"

"It's all my fault! Jeremy, he—he was asking me all these questions after Founder's Day, and I told him…" he trailed off, disgust marring his features. "I'm sorry, Elena…I had no idea that he would take what I said so literally…"

"What exactly did you tell him?" Elena asked, frowning at Damon's attitude.

"Something about how it was easier to turn off the pain…" Damon gritted his teeth, "Damn it, I should have known what was going through his head!"

"It's not your fault," Elena murmured quickly, placing her hand on his cheek. "Hey, look at me," she commanded, forcing him to face her. "_It's not your fault._ You didn't know that he had Anna's blood with him, you couldn't have predicted any of this, okay? Don't blame yourself—"

"Ugh," Katherine growled, turning to look at Stefan. "How can you stand to even _look _at those two together? It makes me _sick."_

"No one is forcing you to stay," Isobel responded cattily.

"You're right," Katherine said suddenly, her voice deceptively smooth. "But I, unfortunately, have some unfinished business to take care of."

Damon's head snapped up, and he protectively moved in front of Elena. Bonnie raised her head, narrowing her eyes as she prepared to use her Power against Katherine. Stefan snarled as he crouched into an attacking position.

But none of them could predict what Katherine had in mind.

In a blur of motion, she whipped a stake out of her dress and threw it with deadly accuracy.

Isobel's mouth opened in surprise as she stared at the stake sticking out of her heart.


	30. Finale: Part III & Epilogue

**A/N: THE FINAL CHAPTER! HOPE IT'S EPIC ;)**

* * *

"No!" Elena cried, breaking out of Damon's half-hearted grip and running towards Isobel's lifeless body. She knelt down, tears already spilling down her face. "Don't be dead!" she begged, pulling the stake out of Isobel's heart. "_Please…"_

Alaric stood frozen, staring down at the woman he had loved. _She was gone…this time, she was really gone…_

"There's nothing you can do," Stefan whispered, trying to pull Elena away from Isobel's body, but she angrily brushed him off. "Come on, Elena…"

"No!" she shouted, shoving him away. Stefan tried to grab her arms, but she struggled furiously, "Get away from me!"

Katherine laughed.

"I'll kill you for this!" Alaric roared, blindly running towards Katherine.

Katherine rolled her eyes, blurring to block his path. He sputtered as she tightened her fingers around his throat, "You—_you _cold bitch!"

"Yes, I am," she agreed, but suddenly she gasped in pain and stumbled away from Alaric, clutching her head.

Damon hurriedly pushed Alaric out of the way, and nodded at Bonnie in gratitude. She smiled back at him grimly, her power not wavering the slightest.

"You…_little witch," _Katherine hissed, raising her head in fury. "Your pathetic powers can't kill me! You don't stand a _chance_—"

"Seems like she's doing a pretty good job," Damon interjected with a grin.

Katherine gasped again, and fell to her knees.

"Almost there," Bonnie breathed, concentrating all of her energy. She wasn't about to admit it, but taking down Katherine was using a lot more power than she was used to. Both Stefan and Damon had been much easier to overpower…_damn her superior age…_

Damon took half a step towards Bonnie worriedly. He could see her knees starting to shake from the effort she was expending. Bonnie shook her head at him, warning him not to get in the way.

Elena looked up from where she had been kneeling over Isobel's body, realizing what was happening. She stood up slowly, and went to stand next to Alaric. His arms were crossed, and his expression held so much hatred that she barely recognized him.

Katherine screamed suddenly, her hands clenching into the dirt on the ground. When she looked up, her gaze was wild, and she looked crazier than ever. "You owe me, Bennett!" she bit out agonizingly. "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't even be here!"

"Ignore her," Stefan ordered, his eyes narrowing as he watched Bonnie struggle to keep standing.

"If it wasn't for me, Emily Bennett would've been burned at the stake long before she died!" Katherine spat out spitefully. "How would your ancestors feel about _you _being the one to kill me?"

"I suspect they would be thanking her," Alaric snapped.

"They would be rolling over in their graves! You would be _nothing _without me! You hate vampires so much? Then, you should know about the _blood bond _I shared with Emily..."

"Wh—what?" Bonnie frowned, her concentration flickering for a second. Then she shook her head, "No, that's not true…"

"Ask Damon…ask Stefan…they know the truth…"

Bonnie's gaze flicked towards Damon, but he looked away from her. "IT'S NOT TRUE!" she shouted.

Katherine was back on her feet in an instant, and she hissed as she began moving towards Bonnie, "Payback's a bitch, Bennett!"

"No!" Bonnie gasped, realizing what had happened. She tried to focus her power on Katherine once again, falling to her knees with the last of her energy.

Katherine faltered, her expression a mixture of anger and pain as she clutched her head again. "You can't last much longer…" she glowered, her mouth twisting cruelly.

Elena silently picked up the stake that had been used on Isobel, but Alaric pulled her back. "Don't!" he whispered, "Stefan and Damon can't go near Katherine because they don't want to get in the middle of Bonnie's spell. If you or I go near her, she'll be able to use us as a shield, and it'll ruin all the effort Bonnie is using."

"Bonnie can't do this herself," Elena whispered back, eyeing her best friend worriedly. "She looks nearly spent out…"

Damon and Stefan had both reached the same conclusion. They exchanged a look, which spoke volumes. Damon smirked and held out his hand, "Think it's time for the Salvatore brothers to make a comeback?"

"I think it is," Stefan agreed, shaking Damon's hand with a grin. They both crouched, vamping out.

"Oh crap," Alaric muttered, and Elena's eyes widened.

Bonnie breathing had become labored, and her eyes began to close. "I...can't..." she breathed, throwing one last look of hatred towards Katherine.

Then she passed out.

At that moment, both Damon and Stefan rushed towards Katherine, obviously hoping to take her down while she was still weak.

She growled in anger as she was slammed against a tree. "You two would _never _be able to kill me," she hissed, trying to regain her strength.

"Actually," Damon corrected with a snarl, "I think we _can." _He turned to Elena, who tossed him the stake.

As he raised it to strike Katherine's heart, she suddenly taunted, "Fine, kill me! Without me, you'll _never _be able to find Jeremy!"

Damon hesitated.

And in that one second, all hell broke loose.

"GET THEM!" Katherine shouted.

There was a flurry of motion in the trees above them, and then something whizzed by Elena's face. Startled, she jumped backwards, knocking both herself and Alaric to the ground. "Sorry, sorry," she muttered, scrambling as she got up and looked around.

She drew in her breath sharply.

Both Damon and Stefan were on the ground, darts sticking out of their bodies. "What the—?"

"Vervain darts," Katherine said calmly, coming out of the shadows, flanked by two vampires. Elena flinched when she recognized the vampire on the left as the guy who had tried to kill her outside Alaric's home. He snarled at her.

"Raoul is rather upset that he didn't get to kill you the first time around," Katherine warned. "Make one move and he'll get another chance..."

"Haven't you learned anything, Katherine?" Elena asked brazenly, placing her hands on her hips.

"Don't speak to me in that tone of voice—"

"This is now the _third _time you've tried to kill me," Elena interrupted in a steely tone. "The first time was when you sent that huge vamp after me. You almost succeeded then...but Damon fed me his blood and saved me."

Stefan muttered something, his gaze shifting to look at his brother accusingly. Damon groaned, trying to speak. _"Elena...don't..." _

She ignored them.

"The second time, you sent _Raoul _to drain me. But we outsmarted you then, too. What makes you think this time is going to be any different?"

"Third time's the charm?" Katherine snapped, looking angry. "You and Alaric are the last ones left standing! Isobel is dead, your witch friend is unconscious, the Salvatore brothers are under vervain and couldn't help you if they tried. What exactly do you plan to do, anyway?"

"What makes you think they're the last ones left standing?" a voice asked, sounding amused.

Katherine whirled around, her eyes widening.

The Lockwoods.

Led by Tyler.

She stared in shock. "You're...you're not—"

"Not dead," Tyler confirmed, crossing his arms. "Bonnie hooked me up with her little potion, too..." he trailed off as his gaze landed on Bonnie's unconscious form. His eyes snapped back to Katherine furiously.

"Am I supposed to be scared?" Katherine asked, raising her eyebrows. "Have you forgotten that I studied werewolf law? You are bound by blood to refrain from killing without reason. Meaning, you can't kill me."

"True," Tyler acknowledged, "But—" he broke off as a mini explosion suddenly burst in their midst.

Elena screamed, temporarily blinded by the flash of white light. She fell to her knees, hearing everyone else shouting around her.

Then all was silent.

She cautiously opened her eyes, her mouth dropping open when she saw a glowing figure standing before them. "What—what's going on?"

The figure turned to face Elena, and she instinctively held up her hands to shield herself from the glow. "Elena Gilbert," the woman (girl?) acknowledged. "We meet again."

"What?"

The girl glanced at Katherine, who had backed away in horror. Then she walked towards Damon, and knelt down. "Hello, Damon."

"Emily Bennett?" Damon groaned, "Why would I be dreaming about you?"

"This isn't a dream," Emily informed him with a smile. "But I wanted to thank you."

Damon frowned.

"For honoring our agreement. I see the Bennett line is holding strong. Thank you for protecting them."

"I—"

But Emily turned away from him and faced Katherine once more. "You deserve everything coming to you. I hope you know that." She then walked over to Bonnie, and held her hands over Bonnie's body. The light glowing from her palms seemed to penetrate into Bonnie. Emily closed her eyes, murmuring some phrases under her breath.

Within seconds, Bonnie stirred. She opened her eyes slowly, her eyes widening.

"Don't be scared," Emily said gently. "You are the one that called me here."

"I—I didn't..."

"Your spell to call supernatural creatures to Elena's house," Emily reminded Bonnie. "You called me."

"Supernatural creatures?" Bonnie repeated, sounding confused. "But...what _are _you?"

"A spirit, of sorts," Emily replied slowly. "I cannot stay in this realm for long. But I saw what was happening, and I knew I had to intervene." She paused to glare at Katherine, "Blood runs thick, my lady," she gave a mock curtsey. "Especially Bennett blood."

Katherine didn't respond, and took a step backwards.

"Kill her," Emily's voice echoed and she began to fade away. "She has betrayed our bond._ Kill her._"

The night seemed blacker than ever as the last of Emily's light disappeared.

Elena blinked, her eyes trying to adjust to the darkness.

"I think it's time we honored her wishes, don't you?" Tyler grinned, and abruptly transformed into his werewolf form. Marvin did the same, and they both rushed at Katherine. She growled, trying to fight them off. Her fingers dug into Tyler's fur and he howled in rage.

Bonnie was on her feet in an instant, and she grinned as she spread her arms. A wind swirled around her and she pointed at Katherine. The two vampires that she had brought with her abruptly burst into flames, lighting their surroundings. Bonnie narrowed her eyes at Katherine, focusing her renewed power.

Katherine screamed in pain, and the two wolves dug their teeth into her arms, pinning her against the tree. "You—you'll never see Jeremy again!" she shouted to Elena.

"Oh, you mean her brother?" one of the other pack members asked with a laugh. He disappeared into the trees, and came back in a minute.

With Jeremy.

"Sorry, but we already found him."

Elena's mouth dropped open.

"He's perfectly fine," he reassured her before turning back to Katherine with a smirk. "Did you forget that werewolves have an _excellent _sense of smell?"

Katherine sputtered, clearly realizing that she no longer held the upper hand.

Bonnie laughed, and waved her arm. The stake lying on the floor was swept up and landed mid-air in front of Elena.

Elena picked it up, tightening her grasp around the object as she neared Katherine. "You'll never be able to hurt the people I love again," Elena breathed, watching as Katherine tried to remove herself from the werewolves' teeth.

But she was trapped.

"You'll end up just like me, Elena," Katherine warned, her voice deadly. "One day—soon—you'll beg Damon or Stefan to turn you. Then, what will you be? Just another vampire in love with the Salvatore brothers...it's your destiny...don't forget..."

"That'll never happen," Elena hissed. "Unlike you, I'm only _in _love with _one _of them."

Curiosity flashed across Katherine's face.

"Too bad you'll never find out which one," Elena smiled.

And then she stabbed Katherine in the heart.

* * *

**_EPILOGUE_**

* * *

Damon shifted his shoulders tiredly as he let himself into the boarding house. He had just come back from an extremely long Council meeting, where he'd basically had to regurgitate everything that had happened with Katherine.

Leaving out key information, such as Bonnie's witchcraft, and the Lockwoods' family secret, of course.

Even to him, the story hadn't sounded very convincing.

Luckily, the entire Founder's Council was so sick and tired of the near-constant "animal attacks" that they had bought his story readily.

"_As long as you're sure she's gone," Sheriff Forbes said wearily. "This town has had enough to deal with over the past few weeks."  
"Yeah, she's definitely gone," Damon answered, "I saw her staked."  
__"Good."_

Damon stopped short in his living room.

Elena.

"Hey," she smiled up at him. "How was the meeting?"

"They think I'm a hero," Damon smirked at her as he slid off his leather jacket and casually thew it on the couch. "Drink?" he offered as he poured himself a shot.

"Isn't it kind of early?"

"It's 5 o'clock somewhere," Damon returned, but grinned and put the glass down without taking a sip. "So, what brings you here_?" _

_"_I keep having nightmares," she shuddered, "that Katherine will come back—" Elena gasped as suddenly Damon appeared before her, looking concerned.

"She's gone," he said quietly, taking one of her hands within his own. "You saved us, Elena."

"It was more of a team effort," Elena smiled slightly, laying her other hand on his. "But I'll admit that it felt pretty good to stake the woman who was making my life a living hell."

Damon nodded, looking down. "I'm sorry...about Isobel, and about John, and—"

"It's not your fault," Elena interrupted gently. "I don't blame you for any of this, okay?"

"I know you don't blame me, but...I blame myself," he admitted, "If it wasn't for me, then Katherine—"

"Don't carry around guilt for something you didn't do," Elena chastised. "Katherine's actions were her own. And she got what she deserved."

Damon regarded her silently for a moment. "Do you remember being in the hospital after Founder's Day? After you fainted?"

She nodded, looking at him questioningly.

"I swore to myself that day that I would personally put an end to Katherine. Even if it was the last thing I ever did..." His voice tightened, "I didn't want her to ever hurt someone that I loved again."

"Someone you loved?"

Damon didn't reply, and met her gaze almost warily.

"Did you know," Elena smiled at him slightly, "That I've heard it from nearly everyone's lips but yours?"

"You mean Isobel? Yeah, she has a way of—"

"And Jenna, and Alaric, and Bonnie, and Stefan..." Elena listed off, counting on her fingers.

Damon froze, "What? _Stefan?" _

_"_Yeah, I had a long talk with him," Elena heaved a sigh. "Apparently he has known for a while, but didn't want to believe it."

"What..." Damon cleared his throat, "What did you say?"

Elena met his gaze squarely, "I told Stefan that I would always love him. But that he wasn't the Salvatore that I was _in _love with."

Damon grinned at her, feeling an inexplicable sense of relief. He stood up, holding both of her hands within his so that she was pulled up with him. "Do you remember what you said to me after I told you the story of how I kissed Katherine, thinking she was you?"

She shook her head, marveling at the way Damon's blue eyes were lit up with such intensity. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and she placed her own arms around his neck, enjoying the feeling of closeness between them.

He recited, "You said, '_I would have said there was no need to thank me. Because you are worth saving...'"_

"I still believe that," she said firmly, wondering if that was why he had brought it up.

He leaned towards her, searching her gaze. "Even after everything that has happened? You still think I can...be redeemed?"

She stood on her tip-toes to gently place a kiss on his lips. "Does that answer your question?"

He kissed her again, holding her tightly in his arms. Elena ran her hands through his hair, deepening the kiss. "Will you be my redemption, Elena Gilbert?" he murmured against her lips.

Elena leaned back slightly to meet his gaze and smiled, "I will, Damon Salvatore."

"You were always my humanity," he whispered, as their lips met once again.

* * *

**THE END :) **

* * *

***thank you VERY MUCH to everyone who ever reviewed this story and inspired me to keep writing! you guys rock!**


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